Sorrow
by crazykittymomma
Summary: **Discontinued...REWRITE is "The Inner Battle." Hiccup feels he is losing control over his village. Concern grows inside of him that he isn't the chief Berk needs. Can he overcome his fears with the help of those that are close to him?
1. Chapter 1

Hiccup could barely sleep at all. He had tossed and turned half the night, worrying about the following day ahead of him. Just an hour before sun-up, he was tired of fighting his body for some sleep. Pushing himself out of bed, he dressed for the day, and reached for his list of duties he had made from his desk. He sighed, knowing that even though he had a full day of to-dos to check off of the list, half of them wouldn't get done, and more would be added to it, especially after the villagers would wake up.

The Chief of Berk was certain that he would have to break up a quarrel again today between the villagers, help Gothi at least once chase down her flock of misbehaving Terrible Terrors, and of course: chase after the twins. He was tired of babysitting them. The day before they had somehow managed to overturn all of the yaks in the pasture, buried Gustav alive ("We thought we were doing you a favor!" Tuffnutt had cried), and had nearly spoiled all of their vegetable harvest with Belch's gas.

Of course, by mid-afternoon, he was exhausted. It was only when he had been talking to his mother about some upgrades he wanted to make to some of the older buildings in town did he realize he hadn't eaten anything all day. He ignored the dizzy feeling in his head, and continued to explain to her how he wanted to use Gronkle iron to update some of the homes in town.

"-we can start with our own before we start on anyone else's," he said to her. "Make sure it's working well before we do the updates-"

"Hiccup, it's a great idea," she began. "But, we've always made the tops of the homes with-" Just as she was making her point, she noticed her son's knees give away, and he had swayed forward. Catching him by his shoulder, she pushed him back up to stand. "Hiccup-"

"These updates will make the houses better," he said to her, ignoring what had just happened.

"Hiccup-"

"Can you imagine better, safer homes-?"

"Hiccup-"

"We may not have to build the roofs ever few years-"

"HICCUP!"

He met his mother's worried eyes.

"It's okay, Mom-"

"No, it isn't," she said to him. "Have you eaten today?"

Hiccup tried to remember if he had actually finished the toast he had made before he left the house-or if he had simply left it on the table carelessly before starting his day.

"That would be a no," Valka said after the pause. She pulled the list of things to do from Hiccup's hand, and rolled up his blue prints he had sprawled out on the Gobber's table in the Forge. "Go get something to eat-take a nap. Once you do, you can have these back-"

"Mom-"

"Go!" Valka said to him. Without another word, she turned away from him and left him leaning against the table.

Toothless nosed him out the door a few minutes after letting him sulk.

"Okay, okay," Hiccup said to Toothless. "I get the idea. Food-"

Toothless grumbled at him, and gave him one last hard push before Hiccup turned around completely and headed straight for the Great Hall for food.

At the Great Hall Hiccup had stared at his chicken leg and soup for half an hour before he actually decided to take a bite. He knew something was wrong with him. Knowing he needed to eat, he forced down a couple of bites of his chicken leg, and sipped the broth of his soup.

He didn't feel sick. He should have been hungry, he knew that. But, he wasn't. He felt his head sway again, and he reached for his bowl of soup and slurped another gulp. Hopefully, he was taking in enough to continue on through his day.

"There you are," he heard from behind him. He closed his eyes. Now how would he escape back to work?

Astrid sat down beside him. When he turned and looked at her, she noticed her happiness disappear instantly from her face. She struggled to speak for a moment. Before she could, he decided to. Would help the painful silence between them.

"Anything I need to know about?" he asked her. He had sent her out on patrol a few days prior with Fishlegs and Snotlout. Frankly, the twins were also ordered to go keep watch, but their minds couldn't focus too long on patrol. He didn't know if he was just being paranoid about a boat he saw in the horizon then, or if there was someone snooping on their island. He didn't want to make the wrong call.

"Nothing, again," Astrid said to him following a deep sigh. She pushed away her worry and tried to sound chipper. "Would you be up for a ride at sunset?"

He gave her a grin. "That sounds wonderful."

She smiled back. "Good." She leaned in and kissed his cheek, then jumped up off the bench, headed for the kitchen. He knew she was after a few chicken legs for Stormfly to re-energize. Once she was out the doors, he felt his shoulders slump. It was then that he realized how tense he really was.

"I really need to shake this," Hiccup said to himself, putting his palms up to his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again, blinked while his eyes adjusted, and let out a sigh. "C'mon, bud. Let's go see what else we need to get done today."

Toothless gave him a low growl, and pushed the half-eaten chicken leg back towards him.

"No, I'm fine," Hiccup said to him in a low voice.

Again, Toothless gave him an eye.

"If I take it with me, will you be satisfied?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless shrugged his wings at him, and after a moment, seemed satisfied with that. Hiccup gathered his bowl and plate up, shoved the chicken leg into his mouth and held it there with his teeth. He then went to the disposable barrel and dumped his remaining soup into it, left the dishes on a table with the rest, and headed out the door following Toothless.

When he thought Toothless wasn't looking, he chucked the chicken leg towards the bushes and followed Toothless back into the center of the village.

...

"You stole me sheep!" Silent Sven yelled at Mulch.

"I did nothing of the sort!" Mulch yelled back at him, crossing his arms.

"I have twelve sheep," Silent Sven said. "Now, I have-" Silent Sven took a moment to count on his fingers. "I have eleven!"

Hiccup sighed annoyingly. Really? Again, they were arguing over the sheep. He had just broken this up a few days ago. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small leather notebook. He flipped through a few pages, and found his notes. He walked up to intervene.

"Uh-Sven!" Hiccup said to him.

"Not now, Hiccup!" Silent Sven said. "You, Mulch, stole my buck-" He shoved his large finger into Mulch's chest.

Mulch shoved back with a hand. "That boar is mine! You simply borrowed him-"

"Guys-" Hiccup tried to say, but the two continued to argue. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. The argument was escalating much quickly than it had before. He turned to Toothless. "Any suggestions?"

Toothless cooed at him.

"Lots of help you are," Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms. He turned back to the men. His father would of had this stopped by now, and the argument wouldn't have begun for the second time. He needed to figure this out. Looking around himself, he could see the other villagers were starting to stare.

"I-want-my-buck-" At this point Silent Sven had a hold of Mulch's tunic.

Panic went through Hiccup's body. Closing his eyes, he pretending he needed to stop a fight with Snotlout and the twins. Yelling always seemed to work with them.

"Would you two knock it off?" he yelled at them, coming closer between them.

Just as he was trying to push them apart in the middle, Silent Sven had a fist balled, and instead of hitting Mulch, it connected with Hiccup's gut, pushing Hiccup backwards away from the fight.

Suddenly, the two men had a fire blast shot at their feet, and they immediately fell apart from each other and to the ground.

Astrid was at Hiccup's side immediately. And, Valka came rushing up through the crowd that had gathered with Fishlegs.

"You two idiots!" Valka yelled at them both. "Arguing over that bloody sheep again?"

Hiccup was sitting up on the ground, gasping for air. Astrid had a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to speak, when he could. He glanced up at the two men. They looked at Valka in confusion.

"What is wrong Valka?" Mulch asked her.

"You two!" Valka yelled at them. "From what I have heard, you two have argued over sheep for years! You ignored your Chief who was trying to intervene-"

Both men looked equally confused at her.

"When did he step in?" Silent Sven asked. They both peaked around her and saw Hiccup trying to push himself up off the ground. He had a hand out to Astrid, telling her she didn't want his help. "Why did Toothless blast at us?"

"When you punched your chief!" Valka yelled. Her arms crossed in front of her.

"Sorry, Valka," Mulch said. "But-we didn't see Hiccup-I-I mean the chief-"

Hiccup felt his shoulders collapse. They didn't see him. What was he, fifteen again? He held a wince back. Breathing hurt at this point. Did Silent Sven bust one of his ribs?

"I'll make this simple for you both-you will surrender the sheep to the village herd. If either of you want him-you will have to pay a fee," Valka said.

"But-" they both started.

"I wasn't here when this feud between you two began, nor do I care. Fishlegs will take possession of the buck. You both have three days to come forward with a gold coin for the sheep. If the fee is not paid, then he will remain in the pasture."

Hiccup felt his fists clenching. He turned and headed down the hill to get away from everyone. Toothless followed and caught up beside him in a single leap. Within seconds, Astrid was beside him.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" she asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said to her. His anger was growing. He could hear his mother arguing with both Sven and Mulch. Without turning back, he continued down the hill. He just wanted to be left alone.

"How's your ribs?" Astrid asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it!" he said, feeling his voice raising.

"I wasn't asking about what is wrong, I was asking about your ribs-"

"That's still linked to what is wrong-"

"No it isn't-"

"Don't argue with me, Astrid," he said to her, turning and mounting Toothless. He eyed her. For a moment, he felt bad yelling at her, telling her to drop the matter. Usually, he welcomed a conversation with her to help solve matters. But, right now, he didn't want to be bothered.

"I am not arguing with you," Astrid said to him. "I am only asking if you are okay."

"I'm fine," he said sternly, and with that, he popped his leg into his gears, and Toothless was in the air leaving her below.

...

It was hours later and sunset had come. Hiccup could hear the noises of the night surrounding him. As they grew louder, inside he ached with guilt. He knew he had promised an evening ride with Astrid. But, he didn't want to be near anyone. He wanted to be alone.

Toothless came over to where he sat on the edge of the rock. He'd been holding a long stick down into the water, swirling the water around below, watching the fish dance in the ripples and waves he'd created. Toothless cooed from behind him, and he laid his large head down.

"I know, bud," Hiccup said to him. "It's getting late. And, I know Astrid is going to be disappointed." He rubbed his right side. His ribs still ached from earlier that day. It was a constant reminder to him that he had lost order of the village.

What was he going to do? It had been six months since his father had passed away, leaving Hiccup with a responsibility he wasn't quite ready for. His father had told him he was. Now, Hiccup believed he'd made a very bad mistake thinking that he was. And, Hiccup felt as though up until recently the village had been treading lightly. For a long time there were few issues in the village. They had all worked on clearing out the ice from the Great Bewilderbeast attack with Drago. Had they all just been distracted during clean up? Or were they taking it easy on him considering his father had passed away.

He knew the counsel had met without him more than once. They had been concerned for the well-being of the village with Hiccup running it. Had it not been for Gobber, he wouldn't have known they had been meeting up. Gobber had gone to the first meeting defending Hiccup's name. The second meeting that had taken place, however, Hiccup had shown up calling everyone out.

"From now on, you all need to bring concerns to my attention. My father fought to keep this village running smoothly-and he trusted me to do the same following his permanent absence."

He was positive he was letting his father down. That, he was sure about.

Toothless nudged his back with his head. He cooed again at him.

"I'm not going, bud-" Hiccup said to him. He didn't want to see Astrid. It suddenly occurred to him that Toothless had been looking forward to this evening flight. They hadn't had one in weeks. He needed to put his stubbornness and shame aside and think of his dragon, who was probably going stir crazy.

Hiccup dropped his long stick, and climbed right over Toothless. He didn't put his peg into the gears just yet. Instead, he touched the top of Toothless's head, and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Toothless," he said to him gently. "I'm being selfish and irrational."

Toothless snorted in agreement.

"You don't have to agree with me!" Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms. "Great-now I have no one on my side-"

Suddenly, Toothless turned his head and slapped Hiccup with his long "ear."

"Okay, fine!" Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'm being a mutten-head."

He clicked his leg into the gears and with that Toothless was in the air.

...

It was well after nightfall when Hiccup climbed the steps towards the house. He didn't want to go inside. But, he knew he needed to. Standing outside the door, he sighed. He looked at Toothless, who nuzzled his side gently. Hiccup smiled, rubbed his dragon's head, feeling a little bit better again at the moment. He reached for the door ring, turned it, and headed inside.

On the table he saw a plate of bread had sat with a bowl of soup, which had gotten cold. He felt guilty knowing she had gone through the trouble to place dinner for him so they could eat together, and he had abandoned it. He sat down on the bench at the table, and pushed the bowl away. He settled for the piece of bread with strawberry jam. After two bites, he pushed it aside.

Just as he had moved his hand away from the plate, his mother's bedroom door opened. She leaned against the doorway in her night gown. Her arms crossed in front of her. Her face soft. She gave him a weak smile, which he did not return. Instead, he turned away from her.

"Rough day, today," Valka said to him quietly.

He nodded his reply.

"How're your ribs feeling?" she asked him.

"Fine," he replied.

She came over and sat down on the bench beside him. "Let me see-"

"Mom, I'm fine-"

She looked at him. "Do your mother a favor-ease her worry about you tonight so she can rest. Let me have a look-"

Hiccup grumbled and started sliding the body armor off of himself. He dropped it behind him on the floor, holding a wince in as he did so. Finally, once the armor was off, he pulled the side of his tunic up, and allowed his mother to check him. He bit his lip as she ran her fingers gently around his side. Once she reached the ribcage, she applied a little more pressure. Not prepared for the pressure, he winced. His breath caught in his throat as he tried to hold it back.

"You are a little swollen here," she said to him.

He nodded, annoyed.

"We shall see what tomorrow brings," she said to him. She reached over to the plate with the slice of bread and slid it back in front of him. "Eat."

Hiccup felt his fist clenching again. He didn't want to yell at her. She was the very last person he wanted to raise his voice to. She was, after all, the woman that brought him life. And, deep down he was thankful for her concern.

"Where did you disappear to earlier?" she asked him, grabbed the kettle, pouring some water into it, and hanging it over the fire in the hearth.

Hiccup pinched a bit of crust on the slice of bread. He didn't want to tell her. The cove was his secret place to get away from the village. The only person he knew that would follow him there would have been Astrid.

"I was on Berk," he said to her gently. "Just-needed to clear my head for a bit."

He could feel his mother's eyes on him from where she stood behind him. He reached for the slice of bread and attempted to take a small bite. He felt the pit inside his stomach turn as he did. It took all he had to keep the bite in his mouth. Quickly, he swallowed it.

He watched his mother go through some of the shelves in the kitchen, looking for something. Finally, she pulled out a small glass vile, sprinkled some of the contents into a mug, and capped it. She did the same with another vile. Then, she poured some warm water into it, added a mint leaf, and sat it down in front of Hiccup. He looked up at her.

"You aren't sleeping," she said to him.

"I am-"

She pointed her finger at the mug. "I know better."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her. "You 'know better'?" he said. He sighed, trying to let go of his anger. "How do you 'know better'?" he asked her. The look on her face showed a little bit of fear. Never had he talked to her this way, not in six months of her making her home on Berk.

"Hiccup-"

"No," he said to her, shaking his head. "You don't 'know' me. Not that way, Mom." He paused, still trying to control his anger at her. Why he was directing his anger at her, he didn't know. Something about her words just set him off. "You've known me for six months. You weren't there pushing me from my desk when I was fifteen to get to bed-I had fallen asleep drawing many times. That was Dad. You weren't there when I was sick with fever every winter, trying to get me through the night before Gothi came. No, that was Dad again-"

"Hiccup-"

"Dad was the one who 'knew' me. Mom, if you'd been here even three years ago-you'd know I rarely sleep. My mind is constantly spinning. It always has. You've only known me since Dad passed away."

"Hiccup, I've heard you pace above me every night," Valka said. "You are up past the time I fall asleep, and gone before I wake up at first light. You don't sleep-you haven't in months-"

He stood up from his seat, the bench falling behind him, causing a loud bang. Toothless was nudging him, begging him to stop yelling at his mother, but Hiccup ignored him.

"You didn't listen to me!" he yelled at her. "I've-never slept well. Not in years. I can't remember the last time I slept from sun down to sun up! I get a few hours and move on."

"You aren't even getting that right now," Valka said to him, throwing her hands over the table, leaning in to it to speak to him. It was the only thing separating them from each other. "Hiccup-you were getting more sleep a month ago than you are now. What is troubling you-something is weighing heavy on your shoulders-I want to help-"

"You wouldn't understand-" Hiccup said to her.

"Try me-" she said to him.

He shook his head. Instead, he headed towards the door.

"Now where are you going?" she asked him.

"Out," he said, pulling the door open. "C'mon, Toothless."

"Please stay," Valka said to him. "I didn't mean to upset you, Hiccup-"

Hiccup growled under his breath, and walked out the door. Toothless looked at Valka, his emerald eyes showed pure concern. He cooed at her, an apology for his riders behavior, perhaps. Then, he hurried out the door behind his rider, leaving Valka alone in the home.

...

 **To be honest, I have NO IDEA where this is going to go. I didn't even know what kind of summary to write for this story. Hopefully it wasn't misleading to you all. I was really into this, and I started it last night after I posted the last two-shot. Something-clicked.**

 ** **Thanks for reading, everyone! I'll see if I can whip up another chapter this week for you!****


	2. Chapter 2

At the very top of Berk was where Hiccup went after exploding at his mother. It was his second favorite place on the island after the Cove. Many nights as a child he sat there looking out. The stars and moon were so far off. He had felt completely trapped on Berk, not moving forward. As many times as he had tried to move forward, his clumsiness had always pushed him another few steps backwards. At least at the Cove he was able to have peace and quiet where he could think without his father or Gobber barking orders at him, without the village people telling him he was worthless, annoyed at his very presence. At Berk's most highest peak, he could dream of better things.

And that was what he was doing that very moment.

At a moment of weakness, he started mentally preparing a list of items he needed to pack before sun up so that he and Toothless could escape. Berk would find another chief. Heck, Spitelout could take over for all he cared. Berk could manage without him. They believed that when he was fifteen, not thinking twice at who would take his father's place when he would pass.

"Hiccup?"

Then, there was Astrid. Her voice was what brought him back to reality. How could he have thought of leaving her?

He sat up from where he leaned against Toothless, his hand resting on his ribs to try to ease their soreness. He turned to her. He could barely make out her figure in the darkness behind them.

"Come sit by the fire," he said to her gently, scooting himself over so that she could take a seat. Toothless lifted his head up to her, cooing happily as she sat down. She rubbed his head lovingly. He noticed when she took her seat beside him, she wasn't sitting as close as she normally would. In fact, she didn't even motion for him to lift his arm up to place around her. He was a little disappointed, but he knew he deserved it for being a jerk.

She looked at the sky with him for a little while. She didn't speak to him, try to lecture him, or tell him how she felt was best. She simply sat with him in silence. Maybe this was what he needed.

"I'm sorry I didn't meet you for that ride," Hiccup said to her after a little while.

"Honestly, I would have been surprised if you'd shown up," Astrid said to him. "But, all in all, it was a little disappointing."

Hiccup felt the slap in the face. He didn't like disappointing her.

"I've been disappointing you a lot lately, haven't I?"

"Not exactly," she said to him. "More like-well, I'm concerned about you-"

He sighed. "I don't need you AND my mother worrying about me. I'm twenty-one, I can take care of myself-"

"Have you looked at yourself in the water lately?" she asked him. Her tone had changed. "The last two weeks you've looked sick."

Hiccup glanced at her from where he sat. "Two weeks?"

"At least that's about when I noticed it," Astrid said to him. "I noticed you are eating less and less. You are constantly on edge. Always awake at your desk, making lists, checking them twice, copying the same list you made today for the next day-Hiccup, did your father live off of lists?"

Narrowing his eyes at Astrid, he looked away. "Occasionally-"

"When?"

It took him a moment to respond back. "When other tribes were coming-"

"Yes," Astrid said. "When he was preparing for a big celebration-"

"When he was passing duties down-"

Astrid nodded. "Most of the time, he took one day at a time. At least, that's what it seemed to me. I think making those lists are stressing you out."

"It helps me keep my thoughts in order," Hiccup said to her.

"Which-in my opinion-are keeping you up at night," Astrid said to him. "You are obsessing over them-"

"What am I supposed to do?" Hiccup asked her. "Sit back and smell the flowers-not be prepared when something happens. Like the argument with the sheep this morning-I couldn't stop it!"

He was getting fired up about it again. Pulling his legs up closer to his chest, he wrapped his arms around them, and he sighed. "My own mother had to take control over that."

"Then let her," Astrid said. "Hiccup, you act as though you are alone at running this village. You aren't."

"I feel alone," Hiccup blurted out. He sighed. Did he actually admit it aloud? He did.

"If you feel alone, Hiccup, it's because you are starting to push people away," she said to him. "You shouldn't feel like you are alone in this. We've all got your back."

"The counsel-"

"Ignore the counsel," Astrid said to him. "At one point in time, I am sure your father, and your grandfather, and so on had similar issues starting out as a chief." She forced him to look at her, taking her hand and moving his head into her direction. He was forced to look into her eyes. Honestly, for some reason, she made him just a bit nervous at that very moment. "Hiccup, I think you were handed a bad spot to start out with. With Drago and the Bewilderbeast-"

"Astrid, you don't get it, do you?" Hiccup asked.

"Get what?"

Hiccup paused, trying to find the words to explain himself. "When it comes down to dragons-they are my life. I get them, I understand them. When we had to clean up the village following that-I was in my element. I immediately knew how to start getting the village back in order. When it comes to solving quarrels about sheep, or naming babies, or signing treaties-that isn't where I succeed in."

Astrid placed her hand on his shoulder, and she gave it a gentle squeeze. "And when it came down to understanding dragons-that is something your father didn't. You had to show him. You had to open his eyes and let him see the friendships and the bonds that we could form with them. Hiccup, you are doing the best you can with what was placed into your lap-"

"What if my best isn't good enough?" Hiccup asked her. "What if I fail all the previous generations of Haddocks?"

"You won't," Astrid said to him. She reached over and squeezed his hand gently. "I promise, I won't let you."

After a moment, Hiccup sighed.

"Tomorrow is a new day," Astrid said to him. "I could sit here all night with you-"

"We could," he said to her. "Like we did when we were kids-"

"Kids," Astrid laughed slightly. "We were eighteen-that's been three years ago-"

"Still kids-"

"If you say so," she replied gently. "It's getting late. I need to make sure Stormfly is okay for the night-then I need to get some sleep myself." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Are you going to be okay for the night?"

He nodded and gave her a weak smile. "Yeah."

"Are you going to sit up here all night?"

"I may," he said to her. "Just depends on how I feel."

She nodded at him. "Okay, then. But do me a favor, will you?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Don't worry your mother."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her, and with that she stood up and left, his hand slowly let go of her's as she walked on. He watched her disappear into the darkness as she headed back down towards the center of the village.

For a long while, Hiccup sat on the ground looking up at the sky. The fire slowly died beside him, and Toothless had fallen asleep. The dragon had wrapped his wing around Hiccup just before he had fallen asleep. For hours, Hiccup laid awake. Even though he had tried to clear his mind, he kept thinking about what the following day would bring. He jolted his body multiple times trying to rid the thoughts from his mind. Yet, he couldn't.

Finally, after a few hours, he woke Toothless up, and together they headed home through the village on foot.

Halfway home, he realized he wasn't walking normally. Heck, what was a normal walk with a peg leg? But, he was favoring his bad leg more than usual. He sighed, knowing what was coming.

"Great," he said to himself, placing his hand on Toothless for support. He cursed under his breath. Why did it have to come now? His mother hadn't experienced one of _those_ quite yet, and he wasn't prepared to let her know tonight. Not after the argument they'd had.

"Toothless," he said to him, stopping him from continuing on home. He swung his leg over his dragon. He didn't lock his leg into the gears. He held on. "Okay, let's get home, bud."

Toothless stayed low to the ground, soaring through it. The path lights had been blown out hours ago, and in his hurry he had to be mindful of his surroundings. He sent some sound waves out ahead, confirming that no one was out walking around this time of night. At least on the main path. He hurried quickly, feeling Hiccup's body go rigid over him.

At home Hiccup quickly pushed the kettle over the hearth. Toothless started the blaze up again as it had died over the hours they had been gone. He limped over to the shelves to find the three herbs to make his concoction Gothi had created for him when he was fifteen. Some days, as long as he caught the pain early enough, it wouldn't grow. Others, he had to let it run it's course. He was focused on keeping it from his mother.

Finally, the water was warm enough, and he staggered over to the hearth and poured himself a mug of warm water, just as his mother had earlier that evening. Mixing his herbs in the mug, he blew on it to hopefully cool it down so he didn't have to worry about a sore mouth as well. He took a test sip, and thankfully it wasn't as hot as he thought it was. He took three large drinks, chugging the mix, and immediately started heading for the stairs.

The thought of the hike up the stairs made him cringe. Toothless helped keep him balanced as he headed up to his loft. Each step caused the pain to grow worse. He felt sweat on his brow once he'd managed to get halfway up the steps. His leg felt like led. His hip was not cooperating, allowing him to lift his leg to make it up normally. Again, what was normal?

Managing the last step, he practically drug his leg through the threshold of his bedroom door. Crossing the room, he asked Toothless to light the candle beside his bed. Sitting down, he sighed. He needed to get his peg leg off, get his boot off, and force himself to lay down and get some rest. It was the only other thing he needed during an episode.

Once the peg leg was unfastened, Toothless gripped the leg and began pulling it off gently. The dragon was used to this by now. If he relieved the pressure on the nub too quickly the pain would radiate up his hip more.

"Easy does it-" Hiccup winced slowly. He was trying to prepare himself for the rush of pain, but thankfully it hadn't come. He waited a moment or two, and he sighed with relief. It appeared as though he'd caught the episode in time. "Thanks, Toothless."

The dragon nodded once, then came closer, and nudged the rider to lay down.

"I'm okay-" Hiccup said to him. He looked at his dragon, who had little slits of green showing in his eyes. They were very narrowed. "What?"

Toothless grumbled, and Hiccup caught an almost hiss escape his mouth.

"Give me a moment more," Hiccup said to him. "This isn't as easy as it looks, you know. I can't just plop down into bed when I am having a phantom pain-"

Toothless rolled his eyes, and walked away from his rider. Hiccup watched him go to his stone, heat it up, walk in a circle three times before settling himself down on the slab of rock.

"That's right, you just fall asleep while I stay awake all night," Hiccup said to Toothless.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps on the stairs. His pulse quickened. He turned to Toothless, who looked like he'd already fallen asleep. Great, the great beast wasn't alarmed by his mother's foot steps coming up the stairs. Course, Hiccup had to remind himself, they weren't fleeing from a Death Song or anything. This was his mother. And, his mother was one of the last things Toothless was afraid of right now. Hiccup on the other hand, was petrified she'd learn his secret.

The door was pushed open, and it creaked on the hinges as it swayed open with Valka's hand. A candle was in one hand, and a mug in the other. She approached slowly. He kept his head turned from looking at her.

"I heard you on the stairs," she said gently to him, setting her candle on the table beside his. She also sat the mug on his table. He could smell some herbs coming up out of it through the steam. The herbs in this mug were different than the ones he'd placed in his own mix.

"I just wanted to make sure you were all right," Valka said to him gently.

Feeling the pain in his hip, he let out a sigh of defeat. He waited for it to fade, but it wasn't. He shifted how he sat, and he had to hold back, again in front of his mother, of letting out a wince. If he had to rate the pain, as Gothi often asked him to do, it would of been a five out of ten at this point. He worried the pain was going to continue to grow.

After a moment of silence, his mother turned and headed out the door, but he found himself speaking up.

"Wait-" he said to her.

She turned back. Gently, she took a seat on the bed beside him. A moment passed between them. He could feel himself shaking as the pain in his leg was growing. He didn't want to come out and admit to her what was going on with him. He worried she wouldn't understand, especially with how he had treated her earlier that evening.

"I see you shaking," Valka said gently. She leaned over to the mug, and pressed it into his hand. "I'm no fool, Hiccup."

He turned to her, questionably.

"I never said you were," he replied after a moment.

"No," she replied. "I mean to what you are going through-"

"Mom-being chief-"

"Put that aside for a moment," Valka said. "New subject." She paused a moment. He could tell she was choosing her words ever so carefully with him. It hurt him knowing she was doing this because of his outburst. "I mean-I saw the glasses with all the herbs on the table-I recognize that concoction anywhere. You forget, your mother worked with Gothi to dress wounds, administer herbs for pain-Hiccup, you are having a phantom pan, aren't you?"

He looked at her with surprise.

"You shouldn't look so shocked," Valka said. "I've had to make that many times for Gobber." She leaned down, and gently touched his nub. It was the first time she had attempted to. Surprisingly, Hiccup didn't pull away from her like he thought he would have. He let her rub his leg gently, trying to relieve pain that radiated. "That mug I handed you. Drink it up."

"Mom, I've already taken the herbs to help it," he said.

"Yes, but that sleeping draft-the one I tried to give you earlier, will help you relax more while you fight this off," she said. She reached for the mug and helped him bring it to his mouth. He wasn't going to fight her over this. He didn't have the energy to argue with her. He downed it quickly as the taste was worse than the original mix he had made for himself. He felt like he needed to chase it with some yaks milk or something.

"Easy," Valka said to him when he suddenly felt himself stiffen. He'd nearly lost his balance on the bed. She helped him lay back against his pillows. "Gothi knows what to give you to help the pain, but I always gave Gobber a sleeping draft to help relax him. That's a lot of the issue when we Vikings get these pains-we get all tense-" She was rubbing his nub soothingly. "Close your eyes, son. I'll stay here until you are asleep."

Hiccup shook his head. "I don't want to sleep-"

"You'll feel better," she said to him. She gave his hand a quick squeeze. "I promise."

Suddenly, Hiccup's hip gave a massive wave of pain. He was unprepared for a wave that intense. A large groan escaped his lips. In the back of his head he was upset with himself for it. He didn't want his mother seeing him this weak. He didn't want anyone seeing him this weak at all. He had to remind himself at least it was his mother and not half the village. That was something he was thankful for. Outside of the group, his father and Gobber and Gothi, and now his mother, no one had ever seen him have an episode.

"Close your eyes, and sleep," Valka said to him again.

Hiccup allowed his eyes to close. He heard his mother humming the song she and her father sang six months ago when they saw each other again after twenty years, and a moment in, he had lost consciousness.

...

 **I am pushing myself with this fic. And, honestly, I am glad I am. I love this chapter! Usually I go through and edit little things like verses, or change how something is said. This time, I wrote this straight through in 2 hours. And due to that, I give you another update already! If it wasn't for work at 830 tomorrow and I will be up in about 5 hours time, I'd probably stay up and write another. I just hope the tone is the same, something I feel like I lose when I leave a story too long.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

When Hiccup opened his eyes, light surrounded him. He took a moment to gather his barrings. His room was completely bright. It had to be way past sunrise. Suddenly, he panicked and pushed himself up to a sitting position.

He had so much to do.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he reached for the peg leg on the bedside table. "Toothless-" he called, leaning down to put the contraption on. Even though his limb ached slightly, he made himself attach it. He hesitantly stood up, and immediately regretted it. Clenching his jaw, he forced himself to take a step. He gimped.

"Toothless-" he said again, turning to the stone slab. It was empty. No dragon in sight. "He must be downstairs." He headed down the steps, leaning heavily on the banister for support. He took each step slowly, hoping after he kept moving for a little while his leg would behave properly.

As he glanced around the front room to the bottom of the stairs, he saw his mother sitting at the table nursing a mug of hot tea. She gave him a gentle smile. He returned it. Suddenly his face felt warm. He didn't like her to see him so vulnerable. Especially not after last night.

"Well-you look like you are feeling better," she said to him as he took a seat across from her at the table.

He nodded. "I overslept, though."

"You needed to," Valka said.

"I can't remember the last time I slept in this late past daylight."

Valka stood up and poured him a warm mug of water from the kettle, added some tea leaves, and sat the mug down in front of him. Then, she cut a slice of bread, added some jam and sat that in front of him as well. Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly.

"Make sure you eat that," Valka said to him.

Sighing, Hiccup reached for the mug of tea and took a sip. He glanced around the first level of the house, looking for any sign of Toothless. But, the dragon was no where to be found.

"He's not here," Valka said to him.

"Where is he?" Hiccup asked her. Instead of replying right away, she pushed the plate closer to him. Of course, she wanted him to eat. He'd get there. Right now, he was too concerned over where Toothless was.

"He's with Gobber helping him in the Forge," Valka replied. "Which is where you will be headed after you eat."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her. Since when did she bark orders at him. He went to speak, but stopped himself. Reminding himself she was just trying to help him, he reached down and took the piece of bread into his hand and took a large bite. After chewing it three times, she swallowed it.

"Why is he with Gobber?" Hiccup asked.

"Well-Astrid found your list-"

Hiccup suddenly went stiff. Where had she picked that up at? Where had he left it?

"Gobber mentioned to me the other day since he lost his apprentice he's been running very behind periodically. Everyone's made request for Gronkle iron weapons. He cannot keep up."

"Then he needs Fishlegs to help him," Hiccup said. Without realizing it, he had taken another bite of his bread. "Not me-"

"Does Fishlegs even know how to weld?" Valka asked.

"A little bit," Hiccup said.

"When was the last time you were in the Forge?" Valka asked him.

It took Hiccup a moment. Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he had been actually working with Gobber making weapons. Yes, a saddle for the dragons here and there, since Hiccup was the expert at making them. He had at least gotten Gobber started once he was on a routine. But, actually making swords and maces, he really wasn't sure. He looked up at his mother, who nodded.

"Now, your list you made-"

"Mom, I really need that back-"

"You'll get it back at the end of the day," Valka said to him. "Astrid and I did some delegating this morning-"

Hiccup leaned forward, resting his forehead into his hand. Where was this going? Why couldn't they have just minded their own business? It was his job to take care of thing around the village, not theirs.

"The twins are helping Mulch and Bucket with making new fishing lines, Snotlout is helping with the harvest-"

Hiccup looked at her, wide eyed. How did they get them to actually work on those types of things. And-

"What about the patrol?" he asked her.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Hiccup, no one is out to get Berk."

"I saw a foreign ship out there days ago," he said. "Just where the sky and the ocean meet. Then, it was gone."

"Hiccup, that's pretty far out to sea," Valka said. "I think you saw a whale coming up for air, or maybe even a Scauldron-"

"Mom, I'm telling you-it was a ship-"

Valka looked at him for a moment. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't stepping down on this. Sighing, he stood up from his seat, and pushed his half eaten piece of toast away.

"Thank you fro breakfast," he said to her. Even though his leg ached, and he was walking with gimp, he headed out the door. He could feel his mother's eyes piercing through him from behind, watching him as he walked out of the house. He had things to do.

...

First, he had to track Astrid down. Where could she have been? He slowly made his way down the stairs to the main walkway of the village, and headed up towards the center of the village. He needed to find Toothless and start his rounds. He knew he couldn't do it with a sore leg.

He passed some of the villagers as he headed towards the center, trying his hardest not to show them he was walking so stiff. He said hello to the ladies that had milked the yaks, passed some of the children playing with sling shots, even asked them to be careful where they aimed. Up the hill he trekked, wishing Toothless hadn't left him alone at his house that morning.

Finally reaching the Forge, Hiccup let himself inside. Instantly the heat from the place made his forehead sweat. He could hear Gobber clanking away. Approaching the main room, he saw Gobber hand Toothless a finished sword that he had just pulled from the cooling bath, who in turn took it to where a young male Viking was waiting for hit.

"Thanks, Gobber!" the man called to him, and turned and headed off with his new weapon.

When Gobber turned around, Hiccup was standing just a few feet away, his arms crossed. Hiccup could tell Gobber had grown instantly nervous.

"Hiccup-ah-Chief!" Gobber said. "Glad to see you up here-need a hand-Valka said you would be up-"

"Gobber-" Hiccup said, letting out a breath. He walked over to the nearest stool and took a seat. Toothless walked up and greeted him, cooing. "Gobber, I really cannot stay and help you-"

"Why not?" Gobber asked him, reaching for another clump of Gronkle iron. "I'm b'hind in me work. I need a hand-"

"You need a new apprentice," Hiccup said to him.

"That you are right," Gobber said. "But, no one can replace ye-"

Hiccup's shoulders slumped. He allows his eyes to drift away from Gobber's stare. He had to admit to himself, when his mother mentioned that Gobber needed a hand, he had a little bit of excitement inside him. He did miss the place. He missed helping Gobber during dragon raids, the most action Hiccup had seen for a fifteen year old. Six years later, he had befriended a dragon, took down the Red Death, had been battling with dragon hunters, lived on his own for more than a year with his friends...The Forge was a thing of the past. But, the nostalgia made him him get a little itch to make a new sword to be honest...

"Hiccup-" Gobber said to him. They made eye contact. "Somethin's been botherin' ya-"

Hiccup sighed. Gobber could read him so easily. "Yeah-well, doesn't matter, does it?"

Gobber walked over to the concession window, where three other Vikings stood to place a request on Gobber. "Lunch time, we're closed!" With that he shut the window. Walking back over, he sat down on a stool a little bit away from Hiccup. "Now, Hic-I mean, Chief, what's on the mind?"

Hiccup let out a breath. "Well-What isn't?" he said to him. "One minute I'm chasing Drago, the next, I am meeting my mother, losing my father-trying to win Toothless back from the Bewilderbeast's mind control-"

Gobber nodded. "Too much all at once?"

Hiccup sighed. "Yeah-but-" Hiccup was trying to chose his words wisely. Needing to remind himself, he didn't have to put on an image with Gobber. The man had changed his diapers when he was a baby. Seen him at his weakest. Had practically given him full access to the Forge anytime, day or night. He'd given Hiccup a way to express himself when he couldn't lift an ax, swing a sword, or handle a mace. He'd given Hiccup the gift of ideas and creativity. He was the very reason he was able to make the contraption that shot Toothless down.

"Hiccup," Gobber said, pulling him out of his daze. "You worried you aren't doing a good job?"

He nodded. "It's a lot-I watched Dad day in and day out struggle. Worried constantly over his villagers. Taking off for distant lands to sign treaties, hunt dragons, manage the safety of the people. Keep order. Then, yesterday I couldn't even stop Silent Sven and Mulch from their argument-"

"Those buffoons will be arguing over the same sheep until it dies," Gobber said. "Told ye' Mom last night we should just make lamb chops to solve the issue-she told me no, imagine tha'-"

"Gobber," Hiccup said to him, bringing him back to reality. "I don't know how to juggle everything. My list keeps getting longer-"

"Yes, your list-" Gobber said to him. "Ditch it."

"But-"

"The people will speak to you. You can't always be prepared fo' what is going to be thrown a' you. Take it as it comes. But, yer list, Hiccup. Delegate in the morning to those who help you, your friends. Then, take the rest of the day and help where we need it."

Hiccup sighed. "I'm just afraid I'll forget something-"

"Even with a list, you'll fo'get. Now, I have an assignment for you."

Hiccup looked at him, questionably.

"Ye need to keep an ear out for an apprentice fo' me. Not sayin' it has to be today, nor tomorrow, or a week from now. But, I'm drownin' in here!" Gobber sighed.

Hiccup laughed. "Well, let me see what I can do to help."

Gobber smiled. "First, I need to eat me sandwich." He walked to a back room and brought out a large sandwich with what appeared to be trout in the center. He handed Hiccup a mug with red grapes overflowing from it. "I did say it was lunch time, didn' I?"

...

Hiccup was at the sharpening wheel an hour later, sharpening a freshly made ax Gobber had made from Gronkle iron. Feeling at home at last, Hiccup smiled. He could hear Gobber whistling behind him, very faintly. It was like old times. He really did need this. He felt the tightness in his chest easing up. He knew he was drowning in his own anxiety. Finally, he handed the ax over to Toothless, who took it to the window to the man standing in line.

"Thanks, Chief!" he man yelled back.

Hiccup smiled back to him, nodding to the man as he walked away.

"Head up!" Gobber said, tossing Hiccup a small knife that needed sharpening. Toothless caught the handle in his mouth then handed it over to Hiccup.

"Thanks, bud," Hiccup said.

Hiccup began to sharpen the blade, but suddenly heard someone call his name a moment later. "Chief-Chief!" He realized it wasn't just one voice, it was a few. Hiccup stood up and walked out the back door to see who was calling his name. It wasn't anyone close to him personally.

"What's wrong?" he asked, coming around the corner of the building. Seeing a shadow overhead, he saw Stormfly was just in the distance, weaving back and forth in the sky. It was very clear something wasn't right. She was swaying back and forth as though she had been in the mead barrels a little too long.

Gobber came outside to see what the commotion was. "What's that big bird doin'?" he asked, putting his arm over his eyes to block the light of the sun.

Hiccup felt his pulse quicken. He felt his stomach do a summer-sault. "Stormfly-she's hurt!" he cried. "Toothless!"

Toothless came bolting out the back door, but no sooner did Hiccup begin to mount him, he realized it was too late. Stormfly was weaving worse, and suddenly she was crashing towards them.

"Take cover!" Hiccup yelled to everyone. While everyone ran away, he was rushing towards the dragon. Toothless stood in front of him, trying to push him back. Suddenly, Stormfly crashed, and Hiccup watched Astrid's form roll away, before coming to a complete stop a few yards away from where Stormfly crashed.

Rushing to her side, he dropped to his knees beside her. She was conscious, but she winced when she tried to sit up. Without even forcing her, she laid herself back down to the ground, resting on her side.

"Astrid-what hurts?" he asked her.

She was gasping for breath, and trying to calm herself down. Behind Hiccup, he could hear footsteps running into the direction of Stormfly, who'd given a loud squawk.

"Astrid!" he said again. He felt himself rocking back and forth where he sat on the ground beside her. The unknown worried him. What had happened to have caused Stormfly to crash that way, and nearly killing Astrid in the process.

"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled, trying to push herself back up to stand. She managed to sit up. She grasped Hiccup's shoulder tightly. It was then that he realized he hadn't pulled his armor on at all that day. He could feel her claw-like hand digging into his shoulder.

"She's got a large arrow stuck in her side!" Gobber yelled. "Quickly, send for Valka and Fishlegs!"

"Stormfly!"

Astrid struggled to stand, but Hiccup grabbed her and held her to sit.

"Gobber has this under control," he said to her quietly. "Let him work. Tell me, what happened! Where were you when you were shot at?"

Sadly, his Chief duties came next. Now that he knew that Astrid was all right, and Stormfly was well attended to, he needed to know where she was when she was hit.

She looked at Hiccup, trying to catch her breath. Suddenly, her face grew angry. It was when her eye brows came together in her anger did Hiccup notice a large gash showing just above he left eye. He pushed her bangs away, and pressed the palm of his hand up to it.

"Astrid!"

"I'm gonna kill them!" she yelled. Suddenly, Hiccup felt her push him away.

"Astrid!" Hiccup said, grabbing her by the wrist, keeping her at the ground with him. "Tell me what happened-now! Was it Drago?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him. She shook her head. "Is that all you think about, Hiccup?" she asked him. Suddenly, his expression softened. "The twins! They took your-contraption you made that you shot Toothless down with-"

Hiccup could hear Toothless growl behind her. Toothless hated the object. Hiccup and told him a long time ago he had destroyed it. Instead, Hiccup had kept it just in case it would have been needed again for reasons unknown.

"-Those mutten-heads fired it at us and-look at her!" Suddenly, Astrid was at her feet, rushing over to Stormfly to keep her calm. Hiccup watched her go to her as Gobber inspected the injury.

To answer Astrid's question, yes. He was constantly worried that Drago would be back. As for Toothless, Hiccup lifted his head up, and turned to look at him. Toothless was obviously angry, and Hiccup couldn't blame him. He had lied to his dragon. He'd kept the one object that Toothless despised more than eels and blue oleanders.

Hiccup shook is head to push away the thoughts rolling through his mind. He pushed himself up to stand and rushed towards Stormfly. He went to inspect the wound that was in her side.

"Easy, lass," Gobber said to the dragon, rubbing her neck. Astrid was sprawled out over her face, trying to comfort her as best as she could.

Hiccup sighed, and looked at Gobber.

"I don't think it's too deep," he said. "Looks like where it hit, and with how long the pole is, Stormfly couldn't fly properly. She tried, but-"

Fishlegs and Valka came rushing up from opposite directions at the same time. They both stood beside Hiccup, inspecting the wound, and Hiccup told them what he thought was going on. He turned to his mother, asking her to look again just in case he was wrong.

"I'm more experienced with dragon wounds," Valka said. "My only fear is that it's hit an important organ-"

Stormfly suddenly started thrashing. She was becoming more distressed than she had been already. Her head tossed, which pushed Astrid backwards. Instantly, Astrid was back at her, trying to comfort her again.

"Wait until I get my hands on those idiots!" Astrid yelled.

Valka looked at Hiccup, giving him a look.

"The twins," he said simply.

She nodded, and then sighed. "Gobber, you and Fishlegs give a mighty heave of the pole. Hiccup, you and I need to help Stormfly roll over a little more to get a better angle so they can." She turned to Astrid. "Just keep her calm, okay? She should be okay once we get this ruddy tree out of her side."

Valka and Hiccup tried to push Stormfly over to change the angle of the pole, but Stormfly's wing underneath her caused the dragon to rock forward again.

"Don't pull on that pole until the angle is just right!" Valka said.

Hiccup turned to Toothless. "Bud, when I say 'now" I need you to push, okay?"

Toothless nodded, and readied himself by pushing the top of his head into Stormfly. Valka and Hiccup readied themselves, placing their hands onto Stormfly again.

"It's going to be okay, girl," he could hear Astrid say to Stormfly. "Hold still, and this will be out-"

A pause later, Hiccup started the command.

"Okay, one, two, NOW!"

Valka, Hiccup and Toothless held their own, locking their feet on the ground, and pushing Stormfly. The pole was finally at an angle, and the three held. Fishlegs and Gobber took hold of the pole and pulled it out straight. Once it was out, another villager applied a damp cloth to the area to help hold the bleeding.

"Got it!" Fishlegs called over from the other side of Stormfly.

Hiccup dropped to his knees, leaning heavily on Stormfly, trying to catch his breath. He could hear a few of the villagers who had been watching cheer around them. He was trying to slow his heart rate down. He wiped the sweat on his brow, and let out a large sigh.

Valka went to the other side to investigate the wound to make sure the blood was clotting. Hiccup realized then that Stormfly was less stressed, and had relaxed. Astrid was rubbing her head gently, and Hiccup could see her body relax of the tension she was holding. Letting out a deep breath again, he turned and looked out towards the waters.

In the distance, he could see the fishing boat. But, just beyond that, he could see a boat just on the other side of the sea stacks. Pulling his spy glass from his pocket, he held it up to see if he could get a better look.

The boat was gone.

He narrowed his eyes, and placed a hand on Toothless. He was just about to jump onto Toothless's back to head out towards the sea stack, but he heard someone call his name instead. It was his mother, asking him to fetch some bandages from the Forge while she and Gobber continued to apply pressure to Stormfly's wound.

Dropping his head, he knew he needed to go investigate the boat on the other side of the sea stack. But, Stormfly needed tending to, and honestly, he was already on both Astrid's and Toothless's bad side. He needed to earn some points back. Biting the inside of his lip, he headed towards the Forge for the bandages.

...

 **Well, what do you guys think?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, guys! I actually started getting some ideas for this chapter last night when I went to sleep, but started hand-writing my beginning during my hour lunch. It really does make lunch more enjoyable! I usually don't do a lot of these as I am always afraid I am going to miss someone, but I want to send some shout-outs to those who have reviewed:**

 **Flopy (guest) - YES! I like to try to get updates out to everyone so they aren't waiting for weeks for an update...or even months! I've had a few I have waited for updates from for over a year now! I get it, sometimes we just lose inspiration on stories (The Stone Crumbles is the one I have lost connection with). I hope you enjoy!**

 **Antox - Oh yes, my noticeable typos! I try to avoid them, but occasionally even though you do review your pieces, they get missed.**

 **AnnieDragonGirl - I hope you think Hiccup is getting better!**

 **harrypanther - I kind of put myself into Hiccup's shoes when it comes to his anxieties, as I have anxiety myself.**

 **Ra-Ra-Crazy - For some reason my mind always goes to a lot of depressing fanfics (maybe because I always love the light at the end of the tunnel type stories).**

 **And on with the show!**

 **...**

Astrid was sitting on Hiccup's work stool just outside the back door of the Forge. Her back was hunched, her arms were crossed in front of herself. Hiccup judged by her expression she was still angry - either with the situation concerning Stormfly or at Hiccup for mentioning Drago. Or perhaps both.

He stood inside the Forge over a bucket of clean drinking water on the table. Dipping a clean cloth into it to soak, he then rang it out until most of the water was gone. He sighed, and braced himself for what was about to come next. Heading back out to where Astrid sat, he felt like he was walking on eggshells. Astrid didn't show a lot of emotion most of the time, but when it came down to someone hurting her dragon, she wore her emotions on her sleeve.

Putting a knee down, Hiccup reached his hands up to her face. She wouldn't look at him, and he didn't want to meet her eyes. He used one hand to sway her bangs back, and the other to apply the damp cloth to her cut on her forehead. He held it there for a moment before he spoke.

"Um - do you want to hold it, or I can-" he began. Her eyes finally made eye contact and she was staring at him angrily.

For some reason, it triggered him. He suddenly wasn't in the mood to walk on eggshells with her. He wasn't wanting to deal with her anger.

Suddenly, she growled at him, then gave him a violent shove. It pushed him off balance. His anger began to boil up on his face.

"Fine!" he snapped at her, seeing she was beginning to chew on the inside of her cheek. He threw the rag at her. "Keep in mind, Astrid, I am trying to help. And I wasn't the one who shot her with the machine-"

"YOU were the one who MADE it-"

"And, if I hadn't made the machine we all may not be standing her concerned over her- who knows, if you would of killed her during dragon training, we might be wearing her on our feet instead!"

He really just went there. Feeling at least twenty sets of eyes from other villagers staring, Hiccup gave one last glance at Astrid, who was now on her feet with her mouth gaping at him. He turned away and headed towards the Academy. He decided he was going to go down and check on Stormfly. If Astrid didn't want his help then he would apply himself elsewhere.

The walk down to the Academy he didn't make eye contact with anyone. He continued to ignore the pain in his leg as he walked, just as he had done when he was pushing against Stormfly not long before. He could bet on having to live with the throbbing pain tonight. At that moment, he didn't care.

He felt naked walking down towards the Academy. Toothless had gone with his mother to help her with Stormfly. If anything, he would have been a comfort to her. Astrid had wanted to go, but Valka had asked her to remain at the Forge. Hiccup thought his mother believed she would head down to see Gothi since her cut was so deep.

As Hiccup was walking into the center of the arena, he saw Gobber and Valka clearing the net that Hookfang had carried Stormfly down in. Snotlout was currently feeding Stormfly two extra large chicken legs, her absolute favorite.

"How is she?" Hiccup asked his mother when he approached.

"She should be fine by morning," Valka said to him, leaving Gobber to move the remaining part of the net on his own. Hiccup could see Toothless communicating with Stormfly. They looked happy and content together. Hiccup smiled gently seeing their happines.

Valka crossed her arms in front of her and watched the two dragons. Then, she turned to Hiccup.

"Astrid go see Gothi?" she asked.

"I'm not-entirely sure," Hiccup said, crossing his own arms in front of himself. He knew his mother was staring at him. He chose to not make eye contact.

"I take it something went sour between you two in the short time we were away?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hiccup said to her.

Valka sighed. "What is wrong with you?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"When I met you, you were this happy, excited boy-"

"I'm not a boy, Mom," he said to her a little more softly. "That was six months ago. Have you forgotten I am twenty-one now?"

Valka shook her head. "You were so care-free,,,for the most part."

"Well, I became Chief," Hiccup said to her. "I've inherited a lot of responsibility-"

Valka sighed. "You put more on your shoulders than you really should, my son." She placed her hand onto his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Now, I think you might need to venture down and talk to the twins here shortly. The fishing boat should be coming back any time now."

"True," Hiccup said. Suddenly, he thought of something. He should ask them if they saw the ship out in the distance...

...

"Hiccup, what are you talking about?" Tuffnutt asked him.

Hiccup had made it down to the docks as the sun was setting to ask the twins about hitting Stormfly with the contraption.

"I was told that you guys used this crazy thing to shoot her down," he said to her, motioning both hands towards the invention.

Tuffnutt turned to her brother, showing a frown. "Ruff, did you shoot down Stormfly earlier?"

Ruffnutt cocked his head to the side, then turned around himself to look at the pile of fish that laid on the boat. He scratched his head, and lifted up a handful of the fish. "Stormfly, are you in here?"

Hiccup tilted his head back in annoyance. "Guys, seriously-" He sighed and walked over to his old invention to give it a peak. He looked at it, and realized immediately there wasn't any way they could have hooked that large pole with an arrow that big to it. The only thing it could throw was a large net. Were they even smart enough to re-rid the thing anyways?

"Did you shoot Stormfly down?" Ruffnutt asked his sister, pointing to her. "Or-I bet it was Mulch-"

"After all, Mulch is known for a good fist fight-"

"Since when am I known for that?" Mulch asked, coming up from below deck.

"Since yesterday when you and Silent Sven punched Hiccup-" Ruffnutt began.

"Now, ye kids see here!" Mulch started. "I didn't touch the Chief-"

Hiccup's eyes widened. Just what he needed, yesterday's fiasco to be brought up again. He put his hand up to stop the conversation. "Guys-it's fine." He turned back to the contraption again. He looked over at Toothless, who had remained on the docks. His "ears" were down, his teeth were out, and his eyes were narrowed. It

probably bothered him that Hiccup was so close to the thing. Hiccup put his hands up and backed away from the thing. "Well, at least it catches some nice fish for the village."

"So, Chief," Mulch began, approaching Hiccup hesitantly. "You said Stormfly was shot out of the air earlier. Why were we accused of this?"

Hiccup sighed. "It happened when Stormfly was in range of you guys. When we found out you had-this-" Hiccup gestured to the item again. "-I think it was automatically assumed someone had rigged it up to be some sort of large cross bow."

Mulch scratched his face, thinking.

"You guys didn't happen to see someone else around you today?" Hiccup asked Mulch, hoping for a good answer.

Mulch shook his head, and Hiccup felt his heart sink a little. Was he going mad? Was he seeing things? Why did he keep seeing some strange boat? And, exactly where did the arrow come from?

...

Hiccup arrived home and pushed the door open. His mother looked over from the hearth, giving him a gentle smile. He sighed as he entered, leaving the door open behind himself. He saw his mother's eyes begin to fill with questions as to why her son was suddenly being a slob leaving the door open behind himself. Her question was answered when Toothless came trailing in behind him, about fifteen paces later. The dragon shut the door with his tail and made eye contact with Hiccup again, snorting.

"I have apologized to you about a dozen times already," Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms in front of him. "What more do you want?"

The dragon boggled at him.

"No, you've had enough trout today-"

The dragon snorted again, then bound up the stairs to the loft. A moment later, they heard the door slam shut upstairs. Then, a crash, which Hiccup could assume was a pile of papers and books falling to the floor from his desk.

"Just great," Hiccup said. "Someone is throwing a tantrum today-course, what's new?" He collapsed into what was his father's large chair in the far corner of the first floor of the home. The chair was so large, Hiccup could lean against the arm and put his legs up and still have room to stretch.

"Last couple of hours must have been a little rough, I take it," Valka said to him, grabbing the kettle and pouring herself some hot water for some tea.

"You don't know the half of it," Hiccup sighed.

Valka sighed. "So, what progress did you make?"

Hiccup swallowed. He leaned against the back of the chair for support, and folded his arms over each other. "Well-" he began quietly. "This is what I do know-Toothless is made at me for lying to him, Astrid is upset at me for-well, I think she's just upset in general, and-the twins didn't shoot Stormfly down."

Valka narrowed her eye brows at Hiccup. "But, Astrid was sure-"

"Mom, I looked that thing over three times. I built it. I hadn't really taken a good, hard look at it in years-but I can assure you a giant arrow couldn't have been hooked to it to bring Stormfly out of the sky like that."

"Then, what was it?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "No one wants to believe my theory on the matter-"

"About Drago?" she asked Hiccup.

He nodded. "I mentioned it to Astrid earlier-and she became infuriated I had."

"Hiccup, you have to admit, if you had been in her shoes, you might have been acting irrational as well."

He sighed. "Maybe-"

"So, you believe someone is still within our boarders?" Valka asked.

He wanted to tell her about the boat he saw in the distance by the sea stack earlier, but he decided against it. She would probably just wave the comment away. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders. He leaned forward and decided he was most likely inside for the evening. His leg was beginning to throb. Taking in a deep breath, he started the process of taking off his prosthetic. Slowly taking it off, he felt the pressure on his nub lift. He sighed, feeling the relief.

"Better?" Valka asked him.

He nodded.

Valka went to the hearth again and poured some more hot water into a mug, then added a mixture of herbs to it. Sitting it on the table to cool a little, she scooped out a heaping bowl of yak noodle soup and sat it on the table for Hiccup.

"I don't believe you've eaten a lot today if I had to guess?" It was more of a question than a statement.

Sighing, Hiccup stood up from the chair and hopped his way over to the bench to take a seat. He looked at it, and took in the aroma. "You made this?" He was almost afraid to ask considering his mother, much like Astrid, could barely cook.

Valka crossed her arms in front of herself, raising an eyebrow. "Actually, it came from the Great Hall. I just stole a cauldron-full for us tonight."

Hiccup sighed. Why was he constantly shoving his foot into his mouth today? Lifting up the bowl, he took a long swallow of the broth.

"It's Gobber's recipe."

"It never disappoints," Hiccup said, taking in another gulp.

A knock came at the door, and before Valka could walk over and answer it, the door swung open. Inside walked Astrid.

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed. It was already kind of dull, but when she walked in, Hiccup felt his anger grow again. For some reason he thought he'd shaken that off, but he hadn't. Then again, he really didn't know the reason why he was angry at her.

"I'll leave you two alone," Valka said. Before she retired to her bedroom, she pushed the mug of herbs towards Hiccup. "For a good night's rest-and then some." Hiccup already knew what it was for. It was a mixture of his draft he made for his phantom pains plus the sleeping draft that his mother had prepared for him the night before. "Evening to you both." With that, Valka had retired to her bedroom.

Astrid slowly walked over to where Valka usually sat at the table, and took a seat there. She seemed to be moving particularly slower than usual. Hiccup didn't dare meet her eyes, but he noticed how rigid she seemed as she took a seat.

Silence filled the room for a moment before Astrid spoke.

"Did you talk to the twins?" she asked quietly.

Hiccup almost looked at her, but he stopped himself. Biting the inside of his lip, he nodded.

"Well?" she asked. Her tone was set.

"They didn't shoot Stormfly," Hiccup said gently. He let out a breath. He needed to push this anger aside. Honestly, was he just upset with her for pushing his thought of Drago watching the island aside? Or was he upset with her for yelling at him, embarrassing him in front of many members of the village. Maybe both.

"Hiccup, I saw them shooting that thing off moments before Stormfly was hit-"

Hiccup looked up and made eye contact with her, but he felt himself go a little soft when he saw the physical state Astrid was actually in. Her eyes were puffy, surprisingly. He hadn't seen her cry in well over a year, if not more. But, this was about Stormfly. It made sense. That dragon was her partner in crime, her beloved side kick. Hiccup knew that if Toothless were the one who'd been shot and injured, he'd probably have gone mad already.

He reached his hand across the table, and hesitantly, Astrid set her hand into his. He clasped her hand into both of his, and gave it a squeeze.

"I won't say what I think it was," he said. "Mom thinks I'm crazy as it is-"

"Hiccup-"

"But, I can assure you, it wasn't the twins-or anyone on that boat." He took in a deep breath. His nub suddenly began to throb. Panic caught in his chest. Astrid really didn't know much about his phantom pains. Occasionally, she had caught him on the verge of one, but he'd always managed to hide it from her. He'd managed to conceal it from her, and he wanted to keep it that way, at least for tonight. She didn't want her worrying over him and Stormfly both.

He thought about taking his draft before it started getting too bad, but he knew in a few moments he'd be asleep. He didn't want Astrid to see him that way either. Putting his head down for a second, he said a silent prayer, and continued.

"That-thing-heck I don't even know what to call it now...I gave it a good look over. The only thing that the twins were doing with it was launching it into the water to catch fish. There was no way they could alter it. I don't know who hit Stormfly, Astrid. But, if I can, I will find out-I promise."

Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, she put her head down. He could see a silent tear roll down her cheek.

"I'm sorry-" she said.

"For-"

"For yelling at you, and causing a scene."

He gave her hand another gentle squeeze. "It's okay. Promise."

Before he could catch himself, a low wince escaped his lips. This caught Astrid off guard.

"It's okay," he said to her. He reached for the mug. Deciding to take a sip of the herbs, maybe a little bit could dull the oncoming pain just enough until she left. He swallowed the nasty taste as best as he could, then decided to chase it with some broth from his bowl. "Sorry." he said to her.

She sighed.

Suddenly, he remembered. "How's your head?"

"It's fine," Astrid said. "Nothing a few days time won't fix."

He leaned up towards her over the table, and pushed her bangs out of her face to take a look at it. It appeared as though it may bruise a little bit, but now the cut was already developing a scab. He rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb for a second, then sat back on the bench.

The pain in his leg was beginning to grow. He sighed, and put his head down. He needed to tell her. Just in case he couldn't control the upcoming urge to cry out again.

"Astrid-my leg is bothering me tonight," he said. He reached for the mug. "You don't need to go, but after I swallow the last of this, I cannot promise I will be up much afterwards. I may just cuddle up in Dad's chair and get some sleep."

Before Astrid could speak, Hiccup downed the herbs in two gulps. His eyes burned from the taste, and he choked a little bit. Again, taking a sip of the broth to chase the taste away.

"Crawl up there," she said to him. He stood up and hobbled over without a peg leg. Astrid went to the chest and fetched a few blankets. Balling a few of them up, she shoved them behind Hiccup's head against an arm of the chair. He was becoming very sleepy already. He laid his head back, and felt his eyes flutter.

"Astrid-"

"Get some rest, Hiccup," Astrid said to him, covering him up. She leaned down and kissed is cheek quickly. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow."

Hiccup grabbed her hand before she showed herself out the door. Turning back to him, she gave him a weak smile.

"Promise me we won't fight like that again," Hiccup said to her. "And, I am sorry for treating you that way."

Giving Hiccup's hand a reassuring squeeze, she headed out the door. The Chief was asleep in the chair before her feet hit the path to her home.

...

 **This one was a little boring in my opinion but I FINALLY was able to write the twins into a story! I little success of mine since I rarely seem to be able to fit them into anything I write. Their humor I struggle with quite honestly.**

 **Thanks for viewing. I hope I cane get you all another update this weekend, but I cannot promise that! Between an evening with friends, meeting the in-laws, and a baby shower this weekend (plus I need to finish a baby blanket that is only halfway done) it's going to be a busy one!**

 **Take care!**


	5. Chapter 5

At dawn, Hiccup woke up, surprisingly in his own bed. He narrowed his eyes in thought. How had he gotten to bed? Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around the room. Toothless was asleep on his slab, what appeared to be very peacefully. Shrugging to himself, he threw his legs over the side of the bed and reached for his prosthetic.

It wasn't there.

"Great," he said to himself. Standing up, he hopped on his only foot to the other side of the room, opened up his trunk and began to dig. He hadn't had to dig through the chest in months, but he hoped one of his spares were inside. He had gone down the stairs without a leg before, but he preferred not to. A moment later, he came up short. Sighing, accepting what it was, he turned and headed towards the door, hopping his way over. He really didn't like to this early in the morning. He was still trying to wake up, and he could feel himself swaying as he was trying to clear his head to keep his balance.

Hobbling down the steps on one foot was always fun, said no one-legged Viking ever. Grabbing the banister he made his way downwards to the first floor of the home. The air smelled like tea leaves which indicated that his mother was awake.

"Morning," she said to him with a little pep in her voice. "I take it you slept well again."

Without a reply, he hopped again to the next step. He felt his foot hit the very edge of the stairs, and instantly he fell backwards. Sliding down the last five steps.

"Hiccup!" he heard his mother cry, then her footsteps approaching.

Sitting up, holding the back of his head, he grumbled. His back hurt in multiple spots from hitting each step as he fell. He checked his hand for any bleeding multiple times, but there was none. His face suddenly felt rather red, mainly from embarrassment. Had he'd done this around his father, he doubted he would have been embarrassed. Falling down the stairs with both feet multiple times, his father didn't come to him in a worry. His mother was now on her haunches checking him out as well. He felt guilty worrying her. Then, he felt guilty for how he'd been treating her over the last few days.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, checking the back of his head a for what he thought was the third time.

He nodded in reply, and gave her a weak smile. He saw her eyes wonder a little bit with his expression. Thinking he probably looked a little foolish smiling on top of looking foolish for falling down the stairs, he lost his smile. He felt more awkward suddenly, and felt his cheeks grow a little redder than they already had been.

"Why didn't you have your leg on?" Valka asked him, standing up. She reached her hand out to him to lift him back up to his foot, which he gladly accepted. She helped him hobble to the bench to have a seat.

"Because it's right there," he said quietly, pointing behind her. He'd left it laying on the floor beside the chair the night before.

"How did you get upstairs last night if you didn't have your leg?" Valka asked him, making him turn a certain way so she could push his shirt up to look at his back just in case. Even though he was feeling mortified she was making such a big deal over her adult son, he felt comfort knowing she cared about him possibly being hurt.

"I honestly don't know how I got upstairs last night," he said to her quietly. Her eyes questioned him. He watched her bite her lip in thought, then she pulled his shirt back down, finally leaving him alone. Everything must have checked out fine.

Watching his mother pour herself some more water into a mug, she reached for another and did the same. She added more tea leaves, then pushed the new cup over to Hiccup, who gladly accepted it.

"You act like you didn't help me upstairs last night," he said slowly. Judging by her expression, it was clear she hadn't helped him up the stairs. She reached down and picked up his prosthetic, and sat it on the table beside him.

"I didn't," she said quietly. "Hiccup, I doubt I could have gotten you upstairs on my own. I would have been similar to trying carrying a corpse up to your bed last night. That draft is strong, remember?"

"Then-it must have been Toothless..." As if on cue, the dragon had leaped down the stairs from the very top, cooed and nuzzled Hiccup affectionately. Apparently the dragon had forgotten about how upset he had been at Hiccup most of the previous day. Hiccup rubbed the top of his head gently. "Thank you, bud." Toothless cooed again at him, his bright eyes smiling at Toothless.

After sitting in silence for a few more moments, Hiccup reached for the loaf of bread on the table and began cutting himself a slice. He could feel his mother's eyes on him, and it was then that he realized it was the first time he had helped himself to some food without being badgered by Astrid or his mother to eat.

"I think I am starting to feel better," he said to his mother, cutting off two slices.

"I'm glad," she said to him, passing him the jam. "Maybe since you are getting more sleep."

He nodded then gave her a warm smile. "Thank you."

She nodded to him. "How's your leg today?" she asked.

"Before I fell down the stairs?" Hiccup asked with smirk. He saw his mother attempt to hide a smile on her face, but it failed, and she proceeded to laugh with him. "Well-" he began trying to push the laughter aside. "It actually feels-normal-"

"That's good," Valka said. "Now-what's on the agenda today?"

Hiccup was halfway through a slice of bread when she asked, and he nearly choked on the bite he had in his mouth. It dawned on him then that he hadn't made a list of things to do last night before he fell asleep. In fact, he had forgotten about making a list. Valka seemed to have already realized this herself, and she gave a weak smile.

"Whatever comes to you, I suppose?" she asked him.

He nodded a little, then proceeded to the next bite of his breakfast.

...

Stormfly seemed to have made a full recovery overnight. She and Astrid were taking it easy with their flying. Astrid's forehead seemed fine, which Hiccup was thankful. The prior day's events seemed to of had very little effect on her. Hiccup helped Snotlout with some of the duties in the harvest. Fishlegs was babysitting some of the village children by teaching them the recent history of dragons. Hiccup made a personal trip out to the fishing boat to make sure that the twins were using the gizmo properly (much to Toothless's dismay). After watching it being used twice, he officially deemed the machine safe for it's purpose. He left the boat feeling completely satisfied.

The day has passed without any big catastrophes. Honestly, it was the easiest day Hiccup had in-well, he couldn't honestly remember. Without a list of things to worry about, he didn't feel so stressed. The weight on his shoulders didn't feel bad. He felt pretty good with what was going on around him. Nothing seemed so urgent that his anxiety couldn't handle it. He was tackling the tasks as they came to him without hesitation, and without dreading those tasks in the back of his head like he had been.

There was still one thing that had been sticking to the back of his head, however, and he couldn't quite push it away completely.

What had hit Stormfly?

...

After dinner, Valka placed the draft down on the table for Hiccup again that evening after they both had settled in at home. Narrowing his eyes at it, he knew his mother could tell that he really didn't want to drink it.

"I'm feeling better," Hiccup said to her.

"Regardless whether or not you are feeling better, you should still drink it," she said, pushing it to him again.

"Is it safe for me to keep taking continuouslyy?" he asked her. He could hear the concern in his own voice. He didn't want to keep taking something that could harm him later on if it helped now. If in the future it would do more harm than good, he would have rather try to cope on his own than keep taking the mixture.

"Hiccup, it's safe," Valka said to him. "Now, drink up if you are ready to go to bed."

Hiccup lifted the mug to and smelled it's contents, then realized it smelled differently than it had over the previous few days. Sitting it down, he looked back at his mother. He could feel himself growing quite stubborn with her at that very moment.

"It doesn't have the herbs for your pain tonight," Valka said to him, apparently realizing his concern.

"Do you think it'll still be as effective?" he asked her. He felt his mother's eyes narrow a little bit at him. He suddenly felt bad asking. He knew she was only trying to help him feel better. Sitting the draft farther away from himself, he sighed.

"It seems to me that something is bothering you," Valka said. She took a seat across from him.

She was right, he was bothered. He wanted to chose his words carefully, so he waited a moment to speak to her. He felt a lump developing in his throat. "This is hard to admit for me."

"I'm your mother," Valka said to him. "You can tell me what's bothering you. I won't judge."

He sighed, then looked away from her. He felt a little disappointed in himself for feeling the way he was. "I don't want to go back to the person I was a few days ago," he responded after a moment. "I feel-better. I'm less-edgy?" He was trying to find a decent term to describe his feelings. He didn't feel like he was on the brink of having a nervous break down anymore. Actually, up until just then, he hadn't thought about making a list of duties for the following day. He had to resist the urge to pull a piece of paper towards him...Shaking his head, he willed thoughts away.

"Hiccup, I am sure you will sleep fine with just this," Valka replied to him, shoving the draft back towards him. "I left the herbs for the pain out as you seemed to have been walking okay today. Your leg still isn't bothering you?" Hiccup shook his head at her. "The only reason I gave them to you last night was because I worried after helping Stormfly the stress would resurface the pain. If you take the herbs for pain too often, eventually your body might start to get too use to them. This draft, though, you should be okay for a while."

He nodded his reply. "Okay." He reached for the mug and held it in his hands. He went to take a drink, but Valka stopped him.

"It's just now sunset," she said to him. "Are you ready to head to bed now?"

He nodded to her. He wanted to tell her about the sudden rush of anxiety he was feeling, but didn't.

"I suggest you go upstairs and shed that armor-and then take the draft," Valka said to him. "You'll be out within a few moments."

Hiccup turned to Toothless, who cooed at him.

"Ready for bed, bud?" Hiccup asked him. After receiving a nod, the dragon started up the stairs towards the loft. He paused halfway up the stairs, waiting for Hiccup to follow.

"Goodnight," Hiccup said to his mother.

"See you in the morning, son," Valka said calmly to him.

After Hiccup had stripped off his armor and set it on the table, he decided to change out of his current trousers and tunic and swap them out for a fresh set. He felt better with a change of clothes. Out of habit, he headed towards his desk to sit down and write his list, but stopped. Feeling panic coming to his chest, he forced himself to walk away. Toothless seemed to have sensed Hiccup's emotions because he left his stone slap to come sit in front of him by the bed.

Petting his dragon and staring into Toothless's emerald eyes brought some comfort. He wanted to push away his anxiety on his own, and he was trying to. But, then he thought suddenly about how Gobber and he hadn't worked today on the new orders at all. In fact, he had completely forgotten to go check on Gobber today. He stood up to go make a note to himself, but his dragon pushed him back down into the bed, and then reached down and quickly pulled the prosthetic off.

Hiccup was angry at Toothless for a fraction of a second, before he realized that Toothless was trying to help him. He rubbed his dragon's head, then reached for the draft. Turning back to Toothless he said, "Do me a favor, bud. Tomorrow, take me to Gobber so I don't forget, okay?"

The dragon cooed back at him, and in one swift gulp, Hiccup swallowed the contents inside the mug. Again, he felt the need to chase the liquid with something to rid his mouth of the horrid taste, but he didn't have anything in his room with him. After swallowing a few times, the taste died down in his throat. By this point, Hiccup could already feel his eyes begin to flutter.

"Good night, Toothless," Hiccup said to him, pulling the covers over himself. It wasn't but a moment after his head touched the pillow, Hiccup was asleep.

Toothless blew out the candle beside Hiccup's bed, and then headed back to his stone slab. After warming it up, he turned in two full circles, then laid down to sleep for the night.

...

Eret's eyes opened suddenly. It was the middle of the night, and he thought he could hear voices somewhere either inside or outside of his home. He struggled to listen, and slowly inched his hand under his pillow where he laid. If someone was inside his home, he didn't want to be unprotected. After a moment of listening, he didn't hear any voices at all. Could he had been dreaming?

He decided to check around the house. If someone had been inside, though, he would have known. He had traps that he set all around the house in case someone had tried to come in. Every evening he'd take the time to set them all before he would climb into bed. He reached over to his nightstand and lit his candle to give his eyes some source of light. Feeling his breath catch in his throat as he surveyed the room, he saw no one standing in the corners of his room waiting to pounce on him. Standing up out of bed, he kept his knife drawn up. This was when he wished that he kept his sword closer to his bed at night instead of down in the kitchen.

It took him a few moments before he had unset two of his traps. Craning his ears, he still heard no footsteps inside his home. Yet, he could hear something downstairs. It sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't pin point what it was. It wasn't until a moment later did he smell smoke did hear realize what it was. Feeling panic rush all around him, instead of heading down the stairs, he turned back into his room, and headed up the stairs towards the roof.

Unlocking the door, he pushed it upwards with his shoulder and stepped up onto the roof of his home. What he saw around him made his eyes widen. If he hadn't been awake a moment ago, he was now.

Not only was the outside perimeter of his house on fire, but so were half a dozen other homes down the hill that he could see from his own. Immediately, he used his dragon call to signal Skullcrusher.

He stood and waited impatiently. Skullcrusher should have been there within a moment, and by now three had passed easily. His fire surrounding his home was suddenly growing. Looking back towards the other homes, he realized that easily two or three more were starting to blaze.

"Skullcrusher!" Eret yelled loudly, then he used his dragon call again. Where was the beast anyways?

In the distance he heard a loud roar. It was definitely Skullcrusher. But, for some reason or another Eret realized the dragon wasn't coming to him. Something was preventing him from coming to his aide. It was then that Eret felt he had no choice. He needed to safe himself by getting off of the top of his home, then he needed to warn those who were also effected by fire in the village below. He looked around, and saw his opportunity. Backing up as far to one side of his roof as he could go, he placed the handle of the knife into his mouth, and took off running to the other side, making a dashing leap of faith. From there, he managed to grab a hold of a large branch on a tree, only briefly, because he lost his hand on it, and fell twenty-five feet towards the ground.

...

More ideas came flooding at me while I was working on this piece. I am so excited! I hope you enjoy this!


	6. Chapter 6

Hiccup woke up the next morning. As he laid there, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he thought he could hear the villagers talking loudly as they passed by the house. Swallowing, Hiccup wondered if he'd slept in too late again. For a moment, he thought it did not matter if he had. He was too cozy curled up in his bed to care too much.

After a moment or two, he decided he needed to get up and start his day. Pushing himself out of bed, he realized that his room seemed still relatively dark. That was odd. It must be just after sun up. Why would the village be hustling and bustling this early in the morning? Yes, many of them usually wee to get started on their day's work. But, not this much excitement took place. Reaching over to attach his prosthetic, he looked over and realized then that Toothless wasn't on his slab.

Hiccup felt a twinge of panic run through him. Something was going on. After grabbing his weapon and rushing to pull his armor on, he rushed down the stairs, jumping the last four. It was clear his mother wasn't in the home when she wasn't in the kitchen making tea.

The door was half open, letting in the noise of the outside. What was going on?

Stepping outside the house and heading down the stairs to the main path, he looked around himself. Most of the villagers were out and about. Many already looked tired and exhausted. Hiccup suddenly could smell the air around him, smelling fire and smoke. He looked up towards the center of town, and he could see the dark smoke hanging over some of the roof tops. Calling is dragon, he took off on foot into the direction of the smoke.

For some reason, as he ran through town, he felt many of the villagers staring at him. They seemed angry, their eyes narrowing at him. He felt the panic in his chest get heavier with each passing stare.

Then, he heard a few whispers-

"Nice of the Chief to join us-"

"Where has h been hiding?"

"Where was he at when all hell broke lose?"

Just as Hiccup slowed his run, he realized Toothless was weaving and leaping from roof tops on the main walkway to get to Hiccup quickly. At last, he jumped and landed just feet from where Hiccup had stopped on the path. Hiccup then rushed to his dragon and jumped on.

"What is going on, bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless, who gave him a worried coo. "Let's go!" With that, he locked his leg into the gears, and Toothless took a swift leap into the air. Hiccup didn't know exactly where Toothless was taking him, but he would find out momentarily.

Looking down upon his village Hiccup could see many people were sitting in the middle of the village. Again, many appeared exhausted, chugging down cups of water. He could see some covered in darkness on their bodies. Many looked sad and upset. He felt his adrenaline kick in, he felt his jaw tense up.

What had happened during the night to cause this many people to come out of their homes? What had Hiccup slept through?

"Toothless-" Hiccup began, but no other words escaped his throat. What had he missed?

Feeling on the verge of tears, the panic rushing through him much worse than before, Toothless flew towards the eastern part of the island, closer to the side of town Eret's home was located. As Toothless approached for a landing, Hiccup could see more than a dozen homes looked to have been on fire overnight, and many more were halfway I ruins.

Feeling both anger and more fear dwelling up inside of him, Hiccup pushed Toothless down towards where most of the homes had caught fire at. As he landed, he could see Astrid and his mother talking with Gobber. As they landed, Hiccup could see the concern welling up in all of their eyes. Astrid paused the conversation and came rushing up to him as he slid off of Toothless, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"I thought you'd died!" she said to him in a quick and hushed tone.

Hiccup felt surprised when she said this, and pulled away from her. He met her eyes, and he could see she was actually holding off tears. Her eyes were blood shot, most likely from all the smoke she had been around since Thor knew how long. He could smell smoke all over her, and in spots on her arms and face he could see that she had soot on her.

"You thought I died?" he asked Astrid. "What happened here? What is going on?" Suddenly, he realized he was gripping her shoulders fiercely, and he had to let her go to stop himself. "Was anyone hurt? What needs done?" Hiccup felt like he was spinning in circles looking at all the damage around him. He could hear a baby crying in the back ground, someone yelling at someone to fetch some more water. Just when he felt like he was going to collapse from panic-

"Easy, lad," Gobber said to him, pulling him close to himself and taking him away from Astrid. Hiccup's eyes met his mother's, who looked concerned. What was going on?

"Gobber, I don't understand-"

"I figure ye' don'," Gobber said to him, taking him aside. He made Hiccup look directly at him. Hiccup could see the concern on Gobber's face. "The village had a fire last night. Right now-we don't know who caused it, but-"

" _Who_?" Hiccup said to Gobber. Suddenly, anger overtook him again. "Are you telling me someone set arson in the village?"

"Tha' is what Eret says," Gobber said to him. "But, Eret isn't exactly-ye' know-"

"No, Gobber, I don't know," Hiccup said sternly. "Where is Eret? I need to talk to him-"

"He's in the Great Hall with Gothi," Gobber said to him. "He was injured last night-"

"Injured?" Hiccup said. "Gobber-was anyone else injured in this mess?"

Gobber apparently could sense Hiccup's tension, because he laid a heavy hand on Hiccup's shoulder, almost slapping him hard there. Hiccup glared at him suddenly.

"Ye' need to calm down," Gobber said to him. He sighed. "Listen, Astrid and I have control here. I suggest you head back towards the Great Hall and see Eret. He could tell you more-if Gothi hasn't knocked him out yet-"

Hiccup glared at Gobber. "I can talk to him later-for now I need to-"

Suddenly, he felt arms outstretch around himself, and his head tucked into an embrace. Astrid had come back to him, attempting to calm him down. After a moment, she pulled away from him, and grabbed his hand.

"Gobber, I think you and Valka have control here," Astrid said to him. "Hiccup and I will go check on Eret. If you need anything send word, okay?"

Gobber nodded at Astrid. Just as suddenly as Astrid had come in to embrace him, she had taken his hand and lead him away. He glanced back at his mother and Gobber, who looked at him with concern. What was going on?

...

While they walked through the village, multiple stares were coming towards Hiccup. He honestly didn't know what to do or say to anyone. He felt so lost being hours late to the chaos that had spread through the village. Astrid walked beside him in silence, and Toothless walked close behind. Hiccup felt himself struggling to keep his head up as he walked. Eventually, he realized even keeping his eyes from the ground had grown increasingly hard. He didn't want to look at or even see anyone. He knew he deserved this for sleeping while everyone had worked so hard to help save the homes that had caught fire. Whether he deserved the stares or not, it was still hard for him to show his face.

Relief found him in the Great Hall. Very few people were inside. It became obvious almost instantly that Eret had been brought there because it was the center point of town. It was much easier for the villagers who were injured to take refuge there and get treatment much more quickly then the trek to Gothi's home. He looked around the hall, looking for any sign of Gothi and Eret, but there had been none.

"Astrid-I-I think we should leave Eret alone to rest-we can talk to him later-"

"The sooner we get answers the sooner we can figure out what happened," Astrid snapped at him. "We need to know what exactly happened."

He watched her head towards the stage and towards the back wall. It was then that he realized that Eret was in the secret meeting hall. After knocking on the door himself, a moment later the village healer appeared, and she opened the door to let them inside.

As Hiccup passed Gothi, he suddenly felt a large "whack" to the back. Straightening up, he turned to the elder just as Hiccup leaned forward and growled at her.

"What was that for?" he asked her, his voice somewhat raised. Without replying, she headed out of the room towards the Great Hall and closed the door behind herself.

Astrid narrowed her eyes at Hiccup, then turned her attention to Eret, who was lying on a bed of furs on the ground. He had an arm draped over his eyes, apparently shielding out any light in the room from the multiple candles that were lit. His other arm was wrapped in a sling. Under the blankets, Hiccup could see he had a foot elevated. Hiccup could see he had soot in patches all over him, accompanied by the smell of fire and smoke. His breathing also seemed off.

Hiccup swallowed hard. This wasn't going to be easy. It bothered him that his friend was hurt. At any other point in time, Hiccup would have rushed to Eret asking a series of questions to quickly resolve the matter. But, he was not doing such thing today. He was feeling timid. Knowing he was letting the stares and comments of the villagers get to him, he knew he was shutting down.

"Hiccup-you are too close-" Astrid said to him, trying to push him away from Eret a bit.

"I'm barely hovering," Hiccup said to her. His temper was starting to rise in him out of no where. Maybe it was because he felt so weak, and he didn't like feeling like he was fifteen years old again. He didn't know. He instantly felt bad for having a tone with Astrid. But, he should have known, she'd dish it right back to him.

"You are-he isn't something in a show to gander at-"

"You were the one that wanted to come ask him questions in the first place-" Hiccup said to her.

"Do you both have to argue right over me?" Eret suddenly yelled, making them both jump. Eret slowly pushed himself to sit up more. It was obvious to Hiccup then that not only did he do something to his arm and his leg, but possibly his ribs, too. "Every time I try to sleep that old bat comes in to wake me up-now you two are in here arguing-"

"Glad to see you haven't lost the attitude," Astrid said to him, smirking.

"Of course not!" he said to her. He suddenly turned his eyes to Hiccup. "D'you finally roll out of bed?"

Hiccup was on fire. He felt his lips set into a straight line. Anger came over him.

"Eret-what did you see last night?" Astrid asked him suddenly, changing the subject.

"I've already told Gobber," Eret sighed. "Someone was tampering with the house. I hear voices. I went to the roof top, and saw in the distance many more fires being set. I didn't see who it was, or how many, but they were spreading." He paused. "Did you guys find Skullcrusher?"

"Skullcrusher is missing?" Hiccup asked.

"Well-you mutten-head, if you hadn't been sleeping all morning you'd know-"

Hiccup turned to put a fist into Eret's face, and Eret held his good arm up, ready. But, Astrid stepped in the middle.

"Eret-we haven't found Skullcrusher yet. But, we will." She turned to Hiccup. "A word with you-" With that, she pushed Hiccup out of the room, who was exchanging glances that could almost kill with Eret.

...

"What is your problem?" Astrid asked him after she pushed him into the kitchens of the Great Hall. She had ran all of the cooks out and locked the door behind herself to achieve the goal of keeping privacy.

"My problem?" Hiccup asked. "Why don't you ask him?"

Astrid glared at him. "Eret's been through enough today-he doesn't need to deal with you right now-"

"Deal with me?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, Hiccup," Astrid said. She sighed, and reached for an apple in the barrel in the far corner of the room. Rolling it around in her hands, Hiccup could tell she was holding back on something she wanted to say.

"Out with it," Hiccup said to her. "C'mon-"

She crossed her arms in front of herself. "Hiccup-" She paused again. "When I went to wake you to get you out of bed to come help-you were completely incoherent. Nothing I did woke you up. I thought you'd died-" She paused. "Then, your mother came and said not to worry, and we went to help the village. Is something going on that I don't know about?"

Narrowing his eyes at her, he shook his head. "No."

"Did you stay up too late and was that out of it?"

"No-nothing like that," Hiccup said to her. "I-I just slept through it all. I am sorry-"

"Hiccup-"

"I know it doesn't change what happened without me," Hiccup said to her. "But, it won't happen again. I'm sorry if I let you down-"

"I was just worried," Astrid said to him. She sighed.

"So, Skullcrusher is missing?" Hiccup said, leaning over the counter in the kitchen for some support. "No idea where he is?"

"We haven't had time to look for him-and I know Eret is worried. Probably part of the reason he was acting like a jerk-"

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, moving his hand towards his mouth to think. "I can't blame him. I probably would be if it were Toothless-"

"And you were stuck in bed." Astrid finished for him. Giving each other weak smiles, they both sighed.

"Okay-I'll go make myself useful," Hiccup said to her. "Since everyone else is dealing with the village, I'll go search for Skullcrusher. You just make sure things go smooth-"

"Hiccup-"

He placed his hand up to her to stop her. "I am being serious." He felt guilty mentioning going alone, but it gave him an excuse to leave with Toothless alone. He needed to get out of dodge for a bit, and hopefully clear his head. He reached into the barrel and grabbed three apples, and placed them inside his trouser pockets. "I'll be back-"

"Where do you think he might be?" Astrid asked Hiccup as they left the kitchens to head out towards the village center. Toothless was following them.

"I don't think he's left the island," Hiccup said to Astrid. He pulled an apple from his pocket and threw it towards Toothless. "I think he's somewhere here."

...

Hiccup and Toothless visited the site where Eret's home had stood the previous day. It was still smoking where it laid in rubble on the ground. Eret had stayed with Snotlout before settling himself up the hill from the town in the home. On foot it was quite a hike to get to. But, Eret insisted that was where he wanted to be at.

Hiccup knew Eret has his reasons why he wanted to locate a little bit outside of town. Eret was always telling him behind closed doors that one day the hunters that survived the battle would return for him one day, and that he didn't want to mix the town with that if he could help it.

"Well, bud," Hiccup said, turning to Toothless after a few moments of silence. "Think you can track Skullcrusher with all this smoke in the air?"

Toothless snorted, and immediately started sniffing around the area.

While Hiccup watched him investigate, his mind thought back to the village. Turning to look down at the town, he could see everyone working together to clean up what was destroyed, and help those who were impacted by the loss. He was thankful the villagers could come together and work in his absence. With his mother, Gobber and his friends they all seemed to have done a good job without him.

Without him. Maybe they would be better off...

Shaking his head to clear it, he knew he needed to stop thinking about running off with Toothless. Again, how could he think about leaving Astrid?

Suddenly, Toothless growled and bolted into the woods.

"Toothless-hold up!" Hiccup called. The dragon apparently had forgotten Hiccup was on foot and couldn't run or leap the way he could. Not once, but twice Hiccup tripped over some tree roots that were sticking up out of the ground. The second time he couldn't catch himself, and he fell forward down the path, sloping down the top of the hill on the other side from where Eret's home was.

Hiccup rolled, then hit something large and hard. His gut ached, but as he sat up, he realized it wasn't the base of the tree he had fallen into, but a cage. Narrowing his eyes, he realized it was a cage made of dragon proof materials. And inside was Skullcrusher, who had apparently worn himself out the previous night trying to escape.

Hiccup could tell he was covered in bruises. Toothless cooed at him, trying to wake him up. The dragon barely lifted his head before allowing it to lay back down again.

"It's okay," Hiccup said, crawling over to the dragon's large head. He touched it gently, hoping it was giving him some comfort. "We will be back with help, Skullcrusher-and I am sure Eret would be happy to know you have been found." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an apple and offered it to the dragon. He hesitantly took it into his mouth and chewed it in half, then swallowed it.

After patting Skullcrusher on the head one last time, Hiccup jumped onto Toothless. "C'mon, bud. We need to get Gobber-"

As they soared together towards to, Hiccup knew of a few things:

One, someone had set fire to the village, intentionally wanting to cause as much chaos a they could. Two, he had let his people down with his lack there of actions. And three, Hiccup had a suspicion that the ship he had been seeing was indeed belonging to dragon hunters.

...

 **It took me three days to write this chapter. I struggled, and after looking it over, I think this was the best I could do. I hope you guys are enjoying this piece. I know I am. I just hope I can figure out where this is going!**


	7. Chapter 7

**...**

Sitting in the Cove close to sunset, Hiccup sat picking pebbled up from between his outstretched legs. He'd been picking up two or three at a time, then just flicking them into the water with his thumb, watching the ripples to pass the time while he thought. Toothless sat about ten feet from him, watching him flick the rocks. Hiccup could tell that he was growing bored, but right now he could care less.

"You can go on home if you want to," Hiccup turned to him after he heard the dragon sigh a moment later.

Toothless snorted at him, then turned and rushed away behind his rider. A moment later, out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup saw Toothless wrap himself up in a tree to hang upside down and take a nap.

It wasn't too long later he heard someone approaching him from behind. He knew it was Astrid. Hearing her feet scoot against the rocks nervously, she finally sat down close beside him. He didn't look at her, he simply continued to pick up a couple of rocks at a time, then flick them into the water.

"Things settle down in the village?" he asked her quietly. His tone was off. He knew he sounded irritated, and honestly he didn't mean for it to.

She had drawn her legs up close, wrapped her arms around her legs, and rested her chin upon her knees. Hiccup heard her sigh a little bit. He knew she was tired. It had been a long day in general, but an especially long day for her as she had been up a few hours before sun up.

"I think so," she replied. "The counsel was looking for you earlier-"

"They will probably come try to pull me out of bed tonight to talk," Hiccup said. "Not sure if they will be able to-" He shook his head gently. His anxiety was kicking in at the thought of not being able to wake up again when he needed to. He was ashamed with himself, and ashamed of his lack there of actions.

"You've been off all day," Astrid said to him. "You haven't exactly told me what is stirring up in that mind of yours-"

"Not exactly something I am ready to talk about," Hiccup replied coldly. After a moment, his conscious became the best of him. "I'm sorry, Astrid."

Astrid seemed to have picked her words a little bit before speaking again. He could tell she was hesitant by her tone. "Hiccup, did something happen last night that I don't know about?"

"No," Hiccup said to her. "I promise, last night when I went to bed-the world seemed okay. I felt-good-"

"And you haven't been feeling good at all today, have you?" she asked him.

Hiccup turned to her, finally meeting her eyes. They were still a little blood shot from the smoke and probably from being sleepy. He could see the exhaustion on her face. He shook his head, and looked out to the water.

"I have been decent the last few days," Hiccup said.

"You haven't been making your lists," Astrid said. "Not obsessing over them either." She smiled a little bit. "I know how you feel about your lists."

"Until Gobber and my mom pointed it out, I didn't realize it was that bad," Hiccup said to her.

"Hiccup, I get it. You are wanting to be prepared-"

"Yeah, but-" he began. He sat down the little rocks he had in his hand, and wrapped his arms around his legs, sitting just like she was, looking out towards the water. "I am obsessing too much over them-they are consuming me. The duties are consuming me. My duties are consuming my thoughts, my actions- I want to do such a good job-and today, I screwed up more than I ever thought I would-"

"Hiccup, I had never seen you sleep so soundly-"

"I didn't know I could sleep that soundly, honestly," Hiccup said. "Remember the other night when you were at the house, and I fell asleep in the chair?"

She nodded to him. He was having a hard time admitting what he was about to. He tried not to wear his feelings on his sleeve with her. She'd always been so strong physically and mentally, it honestly intimidated him half the time. But, he knew he could tell her just about anything, and she would support him.

"I haven't been sleeping well at all. Maybe getting two or three hours a night-four or five on a better night. Those are coming few and far between. I'd had this horrible pain in my leg a few nights ago, and Mom helped me sleep better by mixing some herbs together. I drink it-I'm out within a few minutes. And, I sleep through the night." Hiccup sighed. "I can't take it anymore. I am certain that was why I slept so hard last night."

He could feel Astrid studying him. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her. She held a weak smile.

"Something you need to remember, Hiccup, is you aren't doing this alone. You are the face of our people. You are following in your father's footsteps, but you have a ton of back up."

Hiccup nodded to her. "I know that-or at least I should remember that more often than not. And, it is very much appreciated. I hope you know that. I hope you all know that."

"We do," Astrid said to him.

Hiccup sighed. He turned away, and looked ahead again towards the lake. Darkness was starting to close in on them as night was drawing closer. The shadows of the trees danced in the pond as the water shifted a little bit. "I am really worried about the villagers."

Astrid squeezed his shoulder again. "No one was severely injured. No one died. Those who are affected will be okay. You need to look at the bright side of things, Hiccup."

"It's kind of hard to when you feel like the world is crashing down on you," he said.

"Don't let it," Astrid said to him, leaning her head up against his in an attempt to comfort him.

"Astrid, I know in my heart that everyone who is close to us will help me be a good Chief-or at least try to help me. But, my head seems to always get in the way of things-"

"You are thinking too much," Astrid said to him.

"It's hard for me to not think," Hiccup replied. "When I didn't have the fighting skills or the brawn to rely on, I have had to use my brain. Now, I can't seem to turn it off anymore. Instead of a simple task, I seem to make it more complicated than what it is."

Astrid sighed. "I know what's on your mind. Do this for yourself, Hiccup, forget about today. Look towards tomorrow. You can't change what happened today, but moving forward, you can help that."

He nodded to her.

"Sometimes I think you are too hard on yourself, you know that, right?" Astrid asked him.

He nodded with a small smile. "I know one thing, I'm not taking that draft again-"

"But, it's helping you-"

"No!" Hiccup said sternly. He went to his feet, and Astrid followed. He could see the concern welling up in her eyes again. He didn't like worrying her. Unable to keep eye contact, he turned away. "I jeopardized enough of my dignity today. My dad-"

"Your father would be proud of you for what you have done for the village in the last six months," Astrid said. "You act like he never made a mistake-"

"He rarely did-"

Suddenly, Hiccup felt himself being pushed hard into the chest. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards. His peg leg slid in the pebbles that lined the pond. He glared up at Astrid, he knew he was angry at her, and the look on her face showed stubbornness. Her face was set.

"Listen here, Haddock!" she said loudly. "You think your father rarely made a mistake! Think about how it was years ago-when dragons and humans were constantly fighting! He led our people to the Red Death and we lost a lot of good people that day. It was an event that could have been avoidable had you not stepped in and proved him wrong! You forget that day, don't you?"

"I'd honestly like to!" Hiccup said to her. "That day was a disaster-"

"It could have been worse had it not been for you and Toothless saving us all-"

"I had help-that was the only reason it worked out the way it did-"

Astrid pushed him again, her anger overcoming her. Hiccup glared at her.

"Listen to yourself!" Astrid said. "Look around you-look past your feelings and what you choose to see, Hiccup!" she yelled. "You had help then-and you have help now. Can you not see it?"

Hiccup swallowed. She was right. He was refusing to see it. Turning away from her, his eyes gazed up to Toothless, who was poking his head out from under his wing. The dragon knew not to interfere with an argument between he and Astrid-unless a mace or an ax came out. Then, he would have come stood between them.

Suddenly, Hiccup felt his body begin to shake as he felt weak from his emotions engulfing him. He closed his eyes, and sniffed away a few tears. He heard Astrid come up to him, and wrap her arms around him, embracing him again with no intentions of letting him go.

"I love you," she said into his ear.

"I love you," he replied quietly, the words almost lost in his throat from his emotions.

She pulled away, and kissed his cheek as she did.

"C'mon," she said quietly. "It's late. I think we all need some rest."

...

Hiccup sluggishly walked into the house after dark. His mother wasn't in the kitchen area to greet him. Instead, he found a cold chicken leg with a slice of bread on the table for him to eat. Beside the plate was his sleeping draft, which was cold. His mother apparently had gone to sleep easily an hour ago. Hunger was not with him. Instead of picking through the chicken leg or eating the slice of bread, Hiccup headed upstairs to his room.

He stood in the doorway staring around his room. Toothless had used a blast to light the hearth. The dragon crawled onto his stone slab after warming it up, obvious to Hiccup that he was tired and ready for bed. Hiccup figured Toothless thought he would do the same, but he did not.

Instead, Hiccup felt restless. He would have loved to welcome sleep, but instead, he headed over to the stack of paper on his desk, and took a seat. Toothless gave him a disapproving growl.

"Oh, shut it," Hiccup said to him. Picking up the papers and beginning to sort through them, Hiccup began his evening.

...

Hiccup was sitting at his desk with his foot propped up before dawn. His peg leg was bent over his good leg, papers sitting in his lap. Rubbing his head to try to calm the raging headache, he continued to look through letters from neighboring islands and villages. Some we asking for help with supplies, others were asking for assistance for war against other nations. All in all, it was making Hiccup's stomach turn equally as much as his headache, or it was because he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday.

Just when he was reaching for another pile, his door creaked, and in came his mother. She hadn't even knocked. He watched her face grow worried when she saw him sitting at his desk. He turned away from her, and reached for is stack.

"You are awake?" she said to him, more of a question than a statement. He nodded, and saw in her hands a mug of warmth overflowing from the top. He narrowed his eyes at it, then turned back to his paperwork.

Toothless was snoring on the stone slab behind him. Hiccup saw his mother look over at his bed from the corner of her eyes, and immediately her face became more creased with worry.

"Have you not been asleep?" she asked him.

"No," he replied back coldly.

His mother took a moment to look at her son as she cautiously approached. She sat the mug on the edge of his desk. He stared at it angrily, then he turned to her. He didn't want to say it out loud, but a piece of him blamed his mother. He felt that the villagers viewed him as lazy and careless after what happened yesterday. He'd come late to the party, and he didn't like it. He was embarrassed and ashamed of himself for it.

"I brought you some tea," she said gently.

"No thanks," Hiccup said to her, turning back to his letter from a distance chief he'd never heard of before.

Valka seemed to be choosing her words carefully with him. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"No thank you," he said to her.

"Hiccup-you need to eat-"

"I'm not hungry!" he raised his voice at her. Seeing the startle on her face, he didn't go soft and feel sorry for his actions. He wanted her to get shaken up a little bit. She deserved it for giving him such a horrible mix of herbs to make him look like a fool. "I don't want anything-"

"Hiccup-you are worrying me-"

"Mom, I have a village to run, and people to protect. I can't sleep-I can't-"

"Hiccup, you can't pour from an empty cup, and that's the path you are heading in-"

"At least I will be awake," he said coldly to her. Turning to the window, he realized the sun was rising. Neatly putting his paperwork into a stack, he stood up from his seat, and pushed it into his desk. He turned back to her, and sighed. He was feeling guilty now. He hated hurting his mother, and it was the last thing he wanted to do to her. "I'm sorry." The words escaped his lips quietly.

"I'm worried about you," Valka said to him, more gentle than before. She reached her hand up to his shoulder, and hesitantly placed it there. He didn't flinch, he didn't walk away. For a moment she was worried he'd shrug her hand off of his shoulder, but instead he reached up to it, and gave it a squeeze. In return, she squeezed it back.

"I know you are," he said to her. "Again, I am sorry for being so angry and short with you. I'm really hurt-"

"Because of yesterday?" Valka asked. "When I woke up and noticed you hadn't had the sleeping draft, I knew-"

"As refreshed as I am when I drink it, I can't sleep that soundly through another attack on the village again," Hiccup said. "In fact, last night-had I been thinking more clearly I should of had someone patrolling the village. Who knows who's watching our boarders."

"Hiccup-do you think someone really wants to attack Berk?" Valka asked him.

He shrugged. Feeling her hand leave his shoulder, he turned back to her, and leaned heavily onto his desk chair. "I don't really know. I worry for our village-for the people. I worry about what could of been-And Eret-"

"Eret will be fine," Valka said to him.

"I know he will," Hiccup said. "But, deep down, I am wondering if someone is coming to take revenge. I feel as though Drago is out there, Mom-"

"Not Drago again-" she said.

"Yes!" Hiccup said to her, almost in a loud roar. This started Toothless, and he rose from his slab of rock to come stand between Valka and Hiccup. He cooed worriedly. "Mom, Drago didn't die. He and the Bewilderbeast could be out there, plotting their next move. All his followers didn't die. They might be in hiding, or they might be at his side. I don't know."

"Hiccup-"

"I can't take any chances," he said to his mother, talking away and heading towards his bedroom doorway to leave. He stopped, leaning heavily against the doorway, and turned around. "I can't." With that, he left the home with Toothless tailing behind him, ready to start their day.

...

 **So, the few reviews I had, one of them stuck out to me. All I can say is, if you don't like how I write my story, you can kindly walk away. I accept critical reviews, but not to be cursed at or disrespected in that manor. All I can say is that I will pray for you for multiple reasons...There's a lot more I could say, but I'll keep that to myself.**

 ** **As for other people who are reading my stories. I do like Eret. I enjoy the mystery behind him. He was the comic relief in HTTYD2. I am not sure why lots of people hate him. Not sure if it was because Astrid was the one playing him like bait or not. This is not the first time I have been told not to pair Astrid and Eret together...And I NEVER will pair them together, FYI. I think Eret would go to great lengths to help his friends in a time of need. If you disagree with me, simply hit back.****

 ** **For those of you that have reviewed critically without insulting me, thank you. I enjoy critical reviews, and before I have deleted whole chapters because I have been told that they were going in the wrong direction...not just from one person but multiple. Through those reviews I have learned to think more about my work before typing it up and sending it off to the universe. Believe me, you can ask my husband, it took me easily seven years to bravely start submitting pieces onto this site. Unless he gets on her to read them, I won't tell him what I am writing about, because it is very hard for me to relay what I am writing about to the world.****

 ** **It used to be a dream of mine to be a successful author, but life happened. I write about my own characters and about my own stories I've come up with in the past, but no one knows those at all as I have let those slip away due to life. Fanfiction is a way for me to distress and still create.****

 ** **Also, I do not nor ever will own How To Train Your Dragon, neither movies nor books. I do want to thank the creators of both for giving me something I am excited about reading and watching, but also to help me let my imagination wonder with the love of the characters.****

 ** **Anyways, please review on this chapter and let me now what you think. I have a basic idea as to where I am going to go with the next chapter, but if anyone wants me to write something specifically I am open to suggestions.****

 ** ** ** **Thank you!********


End file.
